- Source of Wealth: Art
- Birth Place: Sacramento, California, USA
- Marital Status: Married (Nanette Wiley)
- Full Name: William Thomas Kinkade III
- Nationality: American
- Date of Birth: January 19, 1958
- Occupation: Painter
- Education: El Dorado High School, University of California, Berkeley, and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena
- Children: 4 (Winsor, Everett, Merritt and Chandler)
Kinkade acquired his wealth by producing his artwork at a mass scale and selling it across the USA through his own company “The Thomas Kinkade’s”. The uniqueness of his paintings is in his own masterstrokes as well as the way he used bright highlights and saturated pastel crayons. His paintings generally comprised of scenic images like a mountain, cottage, garden, lighthouse, among others. In fact, his home town Placerville has been an inspiration for many of the objects that he painted such as streets and snow scenes.
Kinkade was one of the most controversial painters as he received lots of criticism for the commercialization of his art. He was also selling his work through a home shopping channel. This made people make fun of his art as something without a basic substance. He died in 2012. He was believed to be the most successful artist because his paintings can be found in 1 out of every 20 homes in the USA.