John Richard Simplot (; January 4, 1909 – May 25, 2008) was an American entrepreneur and businessman best known as the founder of the J. R. Simplot Company, a

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

–based agricultural supplier specializing in

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

products. In 2007, he was estimated to be the 89th-richest person in the United States, at $3.6 billion. At the time of his death at age 99 in May 2008, he was the oldest

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

on the

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is ...

Early life

Born in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

, he was the third of six children of Charles R. and Dorothy (Haxby) Simplot. His maternal grandmother was English, as were both parents of both his maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother. His paternal great-grandparents were both French. A year later in 1910, the family relocated a thousand miles (1,600 km) west to homestead in the newly

irrigated Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has be ...

Magic Valley of south central

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

; the

Minidoka Dam The Minidoka Dam is an earthfill dam in the Western United States, western United States, on the Snake River in south central Idaho. Completed in 1906, the dam is east of Rupert, Idaho, Rupert on county highway 400; it is high and nearly a mile ( ...

on the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

was completed a few years earlier. After differences with his father, Simplot left school in the eighth grade at age 14 in 1923, then worked on a farm near Declo in Cassia County. He developed a low-cost method for feeding hogs when the market fell, feeding them wild horse meat and potatoes. When the market recovered, Simplot sold his hogs at a profit and got into the

and vegetable processing business.

J. R. Simplot Company

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the J. R. Simplot Company had become the largest shipper of fresh potatoes in the nation. In 1967, Simplot and

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

founder Ray Kroc agreed by handshake that the Simplot Company would provide frozen french fries to the restaurant chain. Previously, restaurants had cut potatoes at each location for fresh french fries, but the favored russet potato was not available for three months in the summer, leading to a quality control problem. Simplot was able to supply frozen russet potatoes all year long. By 1972, all fries were frozen. The frozen fry deal led to expansion of Simplot potato processing plants and construction in 1977 of a new plant at Hermiston, Oregon. By 2005, Simplot supplied more than half of all french fries for the

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

chain. Simplot also produces

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

s for agriculture. Simplot retired as president of his company in 1973, but remained as chairman until 1994. He held the title of chairman emeritus until his death in 2008. Simplot received an honorary degree from

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

in Logan in 2001, honoring him for his many contributions to the agricultural industry of America, particularly the Intermountain West. Simplot was responsible for the Potato Bust of 1976, after making massive short plays he refused to honor those contracts. This resulted in millions in dollars of losses for the New York Merchant Exchange. A public outcry followed, and the newly created

Commodity Futures Trading Commission The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures contract, fut ...

held hearings. Further enhancing his enormous wealth, the J.R. Simplot Company provided startup capital in the early 1980s for the fledgling

Micron Technology Micron Technology, Inc. is an American producer of computer memory and computer data storage including dynamic random-access memory, flash memory, and solid-state drives (SSDs). It is headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Micron's consumer produc ...

, a

Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...

-based manufacturer of

computer memory Computer memory stores information, such as data and programs, for immediate use in the computer. The term ''memory'' is often synonymous with the terms ''RAM,'' ''main memory,'' or ''primary storage.'' Archaic synonyms for main memory include ...

chips; in 1994, he owned a 20% stake in the company. Additionally, he invested heavily in Remington Oil. In 1961, Simplot financed the

Brundage Mountain Brundage Mountain Resort is an alpine ski area in the western United States, located in west central Idaho in the Payette National Forest. Brundage first opened in November 1961 and is northwest of McCall, a twenty-minute drive in average wi ...

ski area near McCall, two hours north of Boise. The Simplot Company sold its 50% interest in Brundage in April 2006 to the longtime co-owner, the DeBoer family. In the early 1950s, Simplot was the benefactor to the fledgling Bogus Basin ski area near Boise when it had financial difficulties; the base area lodge is named in his honor. In 1995, the J.R. Simplot Company expanded into

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, acquiring iconic food brands like Birds Eye, Leggo's, Chiko, and Edgell.

Personal

Simplot's first marriage was to Ruby Rosevear (1911–2004) of Glenns Ferry, whom he had met on a blind date; he proposed to her in his Model A Ford in 1931. After 29 years and four children, the marriage ended in divorce in 1960, when she suddenly left Simplot for another man. Years later, Simplot admitted that while he was growing his business empire in the 1950s, he had not spent enough time with his family. He and his second wife, Esther Becker (born 1934), a former

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singer, met in the mid-1960s in New York. He was on a business trip and she was working as a receptionist for the Henry Phipps Foundation; they were married in 1972. Before his death, Simplot and his wife Esther resided in the Grove Hotel building in downtown Boise, a few blocks from the company's headquarters. The couple donated their hilltop home, in Boise's north end, to the state of

in late 2004 for use as a governor's mansion. (Known as " The Idaho House," it was returned to the Simplot family in 2013, and demolished in January 2016.)

Accident

On January 1, 2007, while attending the Fiesta Bowl in

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...

, with his wife and son, Simplot fell from a motorized scooter and suffered a cranial

hematoma A hematoma, also spelled haematoma, or blood suffusion is a localized bleeding outside of blood vessels, due to either disease or trauma including injury or surgery and may involve blood continuing to seep from broken capillaries. A hematoma is ...

. He was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, where he spent his 98th birthday. Simplot returned to Idaho several days later for further rehabilitation.

Death

Simplot died suddenly at his home at age 99 on May 25, 2008, with his wife at his side, following a bout of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

from which he appeared to be recovering. His death occurred moments after he had invited a friend to his home to play cards. Simplot was survived by his wife, two sons, Don and Scott, and his daughter, Gay, who was the first wife of politician Butch Otter. His eldest son, Richard, died in 1993 at age 59. He was interred at Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise. In 1996, Simplot was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and Native American art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Amer ...

Awards and honors

* Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

(1967) * Hall of Great Westerners of the

(1996) * Honorary degree from

in Logan (2001)

References

External links

Simplot company web announcement of death of founder J.R. "Jack" Simplot

from ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

''
Profile of J.R. Simplot's early career
, from Idaho Public TV
Simplot's Story
, reprinted from '' The Idaho Statesman'', 1999, from idahopotato.com
Simplot articles
from the ''Idaho Statesman''

from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', May 28, 2008 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simplot, J. R. American atheists American billionaires American food company founders American people of English descent American people of French descent Businesspeople from Iowa Businesspeople from Idaho People from Dubuque, Iowa People from Boise, Idaho Utah State University people Deaths from pneumonia in Idaho 1909 births 2008 deaths Micron Technology people 20th-century American businesspeople