Billionaire fuels revival in weary Wisconsin town

Beloit, Wisconsin

WHEN Diane Hendricks sees something she doesn't like here, she buys it. A bankrupt country club. A half-empty mall. Abandoned buildings. The rusting foundry down by the river.

Beloit used to be a town that made papermaking machines and diesel engines. Ms Hendricks thinks it can be a place where startups create the next billion-dollar idea, and she is remaking the town to fit her vision. She can do so because she is the second-richest woman in the US, behind only Marian Ilitch of Little Caesars Pizza.

"I see old buildings, and I see an opportunity for putting things in th…