John Richard Simplot |
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John Richard Simplot, the billionaire french fry king, was born in 1909 in Dubuqe, Iowa. He moved to the Snake River Valley of Idaho in his early years, and at age 14, quit school to form his own business near Declo, Idaho.
By World War II, J.R. Simplot Company had become the largest shipper of fresh potatoes in the country. By the early 1960's the company he founded became the main supplier of French Fries to McDonalds.
Simplot retired as presdient of the Simplot Company in 1973, but remains actively involved in the company to this day. He currently lives in the Grove Hotel building in downtown Boise, Idaho, not far from the headquarters of the company that bears his name. Simplot and his wife, Esther, donated their signature hilltop home in Boise's north end to the State of Idaho for use as a governor's mansion.
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