American engineer and scientist Robert Gore is the co-inventor of Gore-Tex and he has an estimated net worth of $830 million. Along with his father, Bill Gore, he invented Gore-Tex, a waterproof/breathable fabric made from polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE).

Robert W. Gore was born on April 15, 1937 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended the University of Delaware where he discovered a way to insulate wires and cables with PTFE tape in 1957 while he was still a sophomore. He then completed his graduate studies at the University of Minnesota with an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering.

In 1958, his father founded W.L. Gore & Associates, a company that specializes in manufacturing flouropolymers. In 1969, Bob Gore stretched heated rods of PTFE and created expanded PTFE. This gave birth to the patented and assigned Gore-Tex brand name. Between 1976 and 2000, Robert served as the President of W.L. Gore & Associates. He is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors.