J. R. Simplot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Richard "Jack" Simplot (born January 4, 1909, in Dubuque, Iowa) is the founder of the J. R. Simplot Company, the largest supplier of french fries to McDonald's. In 2005 he was estimated to be the 93rd richest person in America, with $2.5 billion. At 97, he is tied with winemaker Ernest Gallo as the oldest living billionaire on the Forbes 400 [1].
Simplot moved to the Snake River valley of Idaho as a child, and in eighth-grade at age 14, quit school and left home after fighting with his father. He then worked on a farm near Declo, Idaho, getting into the potato and other vegetable processing business.
[edit] J. R. Simplot Company
By World War II, the J. R. Simplot Company had become the largest shipper of fresh potatoes in the country. By the early 1960s the company he founded became the main supplier of french fries to McDonald's, and by 2005 they supplied more than half of all french fries for the fast food chain. The Simplot company also produces fertilizers for agriculture.
Simplot retired as president of the Simplot Company in 1973, but as of 2006 remained actively involved in the company.
Further enhancing his enormous wealth, J. R. Simplot provided startup capital for the fledgling Micron Technology, a Boise, Idaho based manufacturer of computer memory chips. Additionally he invested heavily in Remington Oil.
He currently lives with his wife Esther in the Grove Hotel building in downtown Boise, not far from the headquarters of the company that bears his name. They also donated their signature hilltop home in Boise's north end to the State of Idaho, for use as a governor's mansion. The home will be known as the Idaho House.
