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SMALL BUSINESS

Nation's Potato King Dies at 99

By JOHN MILLER,

Posted: 2008-05-27 12:16:35

Filed Under: Small Business

BOISE, Idaho (May 26) - J.R. Simplot left home in 1923 at age 14 with four gold coins given to him by his mother. He ended his life as the spud king of America and one of the nation's richest men.

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John Templeton Foundation, The New York Times / AP

In Memoriam

1 of 18

1912-2008 | Sir John Templeton, investor
A pioneering contrarian investor and philanthropist, Sir John M. Templeton gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to foster understanding in what he called "spiritual realities." To honor achievements in science and spirituality, he created the Templeton Prize, the largest annual award available to single individuals.

The Idaho farmer, who dominated the state's business and political landscape for 70 years, died Sunday at his Boise home at age 99. Ada County Coroner Erwin Sonnenberg said Simplot apparently died of natural causes.

His businesses, still family owned, manufacture agriculture, horticulture and turf fertilizers; animal feed and seeds; food products such as fruits, potatoes and other vegetables; and industrial chemicals and irrigation products. He all but invented the first commercially viable frozen french fries in the world.

Simplot and his family were ranked at No. 80 on Forbes magazine's 2006 list of richest Americans, with an estimated wealth of $3.2 billion.

In 1980, at age 71, Simplot took a gamble on the next generation of businessmen, giving Ward and Joe Parkinson $1 million for 40 percent of what would become computer chip maker Micron Technology Inc. Over the years, he pumped in $20 million more to help Micron build its first manufacturing plant and to stay afloat. Micron went on to become a major producer of DRAM memory chips, which are used to store information in personal computers.

Born John Richard Simplot in Dubuque, Iowa, he was raised with five siblings on a hardscrabble homestead in Declo in south-central Idaho.

In 1923, he left home with four $20 gold coins and paid $1 a day for room and board at Declo's only hotel. As a shrewd young businessman, Simplot bought interest-bearing scrip paid to teachers who also were boarding there for 50 cents on the dollar.

He used it as for collateral on a bank loan to buy 600 hogs at $1 each. When pork prices jumped the next year, he brought some rare fat hogs to market for a whopping $7,500.

That was Simplot's stake for the potato business. He leased land and from an early partner learned to plant certified seed, not cull potatoes as was common then. Idaho's dominance in potatoes grew with the innovation.

Simplot bought an early electric potato sorter and by 1940 had bought or built 33 potato warehouses along the rich Snake River plains from Idaho Falls to Vale, Ore.

A chance encounter with a Chicago businessman led Simplot into the onion-drying business in Caldwell in 1941. He made $500,000 the first year and soon was supplying much of the dried potatoes and vegetables consumed by U.S. troops during World War II.

The headstrong young man then started buying ranches, cattle and timberland. Taking notice of the wartime shortage of fertilizer, he bought phosphate reserves and built a fertilizer production plant at Pocatello.

After the war, his food production business expanded into freezing and canning, developing the product that would become the company's mainstay: the frozen french fry.

Simplot struck a deal with McDonald's Corp. founder Ray Kroc, and his fry business grew with Americans' love for fast food.

Late into his life, the former McDonald's board member drove his white Lincoln Town Car with "Mr. Spud" vanity plates to the fast food chain for hashbrowns or french fries several times a week. More recently, he could be seen driving around Boise in a motorized cart.

In 2004, he donated his former home in the Boise Foothills to the state to be used as Idaho's new governor's mansion.

Like many captains of industry, Simplot had scrapes with the law.

In the mid-70s, Simplot was charged with trying to manipulate Maine potato futures. He was barred from commodities trading for six years and paid $50,000 in fines and an undisclosed amount to settle a lawsuit.

In 1977, he and the J.R. Simplot Co. each paid $40,000 in penalties for failing to report income and claiming false deductions.

Not a religious man - "I'm a fact man and if it don't add up, I don't buy it; I don't believe in hocus pocus," he said in a 1999 interview - Simplot credited his longevity to disdain for tobacco and alcohol.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2008-05-26 09:11:38

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258 comments

Joihlms 01:00:13 AM May 28 2008

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ahhhh soooo, he's the guy that teamed up with mcdonald's to give everyone cancer, huh?
it's been learned and reported by the cancer society that potatoes cooked in oil creates a really bad chemical that causes cancer.
i wonder how many people's deaths these two organizations caused.
a bag of fries should have the same warning on it as cigarettes do. true!!
sure am glad i never liked french fries and only eat baked or mashed spuds.

Joihlms 12:48:12 AM May 28 2008

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people....when you die, your soul sleeps. you do not think anymore or go anywhere anymore. your soul is sleeping, period. Jesus will awaken your soul when he returns to Earth and yes, this will be the time that you find out that regardless of who you were, how rich or poor your were, it means squat now. Jesus will take all saved dead christians and live christians to Heaven with him and God will then make everyone else bend thier knee to him and answer for their sins. God has eternity to listen to every person that was once alive on this wee planet and no matter how sorry each person is, they all still go to Hell. believe on the Son, this is the only way you get to spend Eternity in Heaven. i'm going there...hope to see ya there too.

Joihlms 12:35:47 AM May 28 2008

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aol was too cheap...or too sick to let me see the pictures.... about par for the course. if this guy didn't believe in God, then he didn't believe in the Son either and this is where he made his soul's fatal mistake. to enter Heaven when the Son returns, you must have confessed your sins to him, asked him to forgive you for those sins, tired not to sin again, and passed His Word onto others "before" you died. once dead, it's too late and no, other people's prayers won't get them into Heaven so don't bother wasting God or Jesus' time praying for the old goat. it's a one on one deal and each person must make it or they go to the Lake Of Fire for all of Eternity. hope this coot goat likes charcoal fries.

I Likka Howell 11:24:25 PM May 27 2008

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Boy, that 'rowdy' has a lot to say about nothing...
"He knows now (since his death) not to be an Aethiest. But he has the opportunity to make it right now..."
How is he gonna do that, since he's now DEAD?

'Rowdy', how bout you take your bible thumping self over to Utah and Texas and see if you can't sweet talk some polygamists over to God's side?

Debi1677 11:17:03 PM May 27 2008

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He knows NOW that God isn't Hocus Pocus. (Isn't it ironic that he passed away on Sunday) As smart as he was, too bad he wasn't smart enough to learn that what he had on earth was short lived in comparison to what his eternity will be. He made a name for himself.. for what ??? No real pain and suffering on earth to speak of only to burn in hell for eternity. I'll bet he wishes now he would have rethought a few things in his life.

People, God is real and he wants you to spend eternity with him in heaven where there will be no tears, no pain and no suffering ever again. Rich or Poor, everyone is welcome. Ask him into your heart and life today.

Christians aren't perfect, we are simply...SAVED SINNERS.

Rowdy 5691 10:57:07 PM May 27 2008

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JillandMarkS 08:44:08 PM May 27 2008 WROTE~~

"Late into his life, the former McDonald's board member drove his white Lincoln Town Car with "Mr. Spud" vanity plates to the fast food chain for hashbrowns or french fries several times a week."

Probably why he died prematurely.......

PREMATURELY???? HUH? AT 99 YEARS OF AGE~~HUH??
________________________________________________________

Rowdy 5691 10:54:48 PM May 27 2008

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My husband and I met Mr. JR Simplot in 1967 and did business with him. A very nice man and it doesn't matter if you are rich or poor he treated you all the same. He knows now (since his death) not to be an Aethiest. But he has the opportunity to make it right now...

Rowdy 5691 10:47:08 PM May 27 2008

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Joseaprieto 09:17:16 PM May 27 2008

WE ALL END UP IN THE SAME TWO STATES: BURNT TO A CRISP OR ROTTING IN THE GROUND. RICH OR POOR..............IT'S WHAT WE DO IN BETWEEN THAT MATTERS!!!!

You are so right joseaprieto, And we will look like a dried up peach, or prune when we are 99, if we make it there..We are put here on earth to keep the Faith and live right for the coming eternity in heaven...mamalee

Rowdy 5691 10:43:19 PM May 27 2008

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KENWORTH TECH 1 09:26:52 PM May 27 2008 WROTE:
---MR POTATOE HEAD----

WELL, LETS SEE WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE WHEN YOU ARE 99 YEARS OLD??!! MAYBE A DRIED PEACH OR A PRUNE?? YOU MUST BE STILL QUITE YOUNG AND DON'T REALIZE THAT YOU WILL SOON BE AN OLD FART, TOO SOON....TIME FLIES WHEN YOUR HAVING FUN!!

Rowdy 5691 10:36:03 PM May 27 2008

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Figsk8boy1 09:21:18 PM May 27 2008

He looks like a potatoe.

WELL, MR FIGSK8BOY NUMBER ONE: THE WORD POTATO DOES NOT HAVE AN 'E' ON THE END, AND SECOND LETS SEE IF YOU LOOK LIKE A POTATO OR A DRIED PEACH AT THE AGE OF 99....MAMALEE

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258 comments