The Story Behind Idaho’s Only Billionaire
Idaho's wealthiest person is Frank VanderSloot with a net worth of $3.5 Billion but was born into a poor farming family. He is now the only billionaire in the gem state. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Frank was born in 1948 and is an American entrepreneur who grew up in Sheridan, Wyoming, Hardin, Montana, and Cocallala, Idaho.
When he was 16 he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and at 19, went on a two-year mission. After the mission he put himself through school, Associate's Degree in Business at Rick's College and Bachelor's Degree at Brigham Young University, by teaching missionaries Dutch, selling beef jerky and cream from his own cow, and working part-time at a laundromat.
For the next 10 years after graduation Frank VanderSloot worked in sales and marketing at Automatic Data Processing. He then became Regional Vice President at Cox Communications.
1985 was his big year and the one that started his fortune. He created, started and founded Melaleuca, Inc., a company that sells over 400 personal care and cleaning products, as well as nutritional supplements, via its own "Consumer Direct Marketing" plan. The company has grown exponentially and now operates in several countries.
Frank lives in Idaho Falls where the Melaleuca headquarters are located. He still heads the company as the CEO and has been in charge of the successful business for over 35 years and has won numerous awards in that time. In 1998 he was awarded Idaho Business Leader of the Year. In 2001 he was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, CNN and USA Today. 2008 Better Business Bureau - Hall of Flame Torch Award. 2015 Horatio Alger Award. 2019 Idaho Business Review Icon.
In addition to his responsibilities at Melaleuca, Frank VanderSloot owns several large cattle ranches, and one of the nation’s largest and most elite registered Angus herds. He owns an estimated 117,500 acres across Idaho, Utah and Montana.
Information for this article was provided by several sources including: Forbes, Wikipedia, Melaleuca, Inc, and Celebrity Net Worth.
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Gallery Credit: Meagan Drillinger