There were times when he drilled dry wells in search of oil. And there were times when he hunted for gold where none was to be found.
Risk taking has been part of Jack Simplot’s life since he was a child. By taking risks he built an agricultural empire and became one of the wealthiest men in the United States.
“I’m a gambler,” said Simplot, founder of the J.R. Simplot Company. “There’s no question about it.”
But he’s also a shrewd business person, someone born with the Midas touch.
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He pegs his family’s fortune at somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 billion (U.S.) And growing.
“For sure I’ve had a few bumps along the way,” said the 90-year-old Simplot, “but our company has grown in every direction.”
Case in point: The company recently finished building a 150,000-head feedlot at Grand View, Idaho to supply IBP. And recently, J.R. Simplot Co. celebrated the completion of a $240 million upgrade at its fertilizer plant in Brandon, Man.
Double production
Simplot was there to cut the ribbon during the celebrations. Flanked by two of his children and several company executives, he applauded the upgrade and vowed the plant’s daily production of 1,250 tonnes of anhydrous ammonia would eventually double.
“It’s needed here, we got it here, and we’re going to continue to grow it,” he said.
The comments came as no surprise to Steve Beebe, president and chief executive officer of J.R. Simplot Co. Beebe joined the company three decades ago and now has an office next to Jack Simplot. A door connects their two offices, headquartered in downtown Boise, Idaho.
“He’s always challenging you,” said Beebe. “That’s what makes him fun.”
Simplot was raised with five siblings on a homestead in south-central Idaho. He left home in his early teens. Legend has it that he packed his bags and moved to a hotel after his father refused to let him attend a basketball game.
He began making his fortune soon afterward.
He shot wild horses, sold the hides and boiled the meat with potato scraps to feed hogs that he bought for $1 each.
When hog prices jumped, he sold the fatted animals for more than $7,000, a hefty sum at that time.
He then ventured into the potato business, bringing innovations to the industry. He started growing potatoes and kept expanding his stake. He bought an early electric potato sorter and earned extra money leasing the equipment to other growers.
By 1940, he had 33 potato warehouses between Idaho Falls and Vale, Oregon.
The following year, he tapped into the onion-drying business. He remembers making $500,000 in his first year.
During the Second World War Simplot supplied much of the dried potatoes and vegetables for American troops.
Food industry venture
After the war ended, his company expanded into frozen and canned food products. It was then that J.R. Simplot Co. made one of its greatest marks on the food industry.
The company developed a process to freeze french fries in the 1950s. Simplot struck a deal with McDonald’s Corp. founder Ray Kroc, ensuring a market for the frozen fries. As the fast-food chain expanded, so did Simplot’s fortunes.
“That’s what made me,” he said. “I got McDonald’s to use my frozen french fries.”
The Brandon fertilizer plant represents a large part of the family fortune. J.R. Simplot Co. also has a $40 million stake in a french fry plant at Carberry, Man., a community surrounded by potato farms.
Although he turned the parent company over to his children five years ago, the senior Simplot still takes pride in the empire he built. That pride was evident during his visit to the fertilizer plant at Brandon last week.
“Who else in the world would have something like this,” he asked.
“You go take a look at that, boy. It’s a jewel.”
