John Hugh MacMillan Jr. (1895 – December 23, 1960) was an American businessman, president of

Cargill Cargill, Incorporated, is a privately held American global food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865, it is the largest privately held corporation in the United States in ter ...

from 1936 to 1960.

Early life

He was born in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in 1895, the son of

John H. MacMillan Sr. John Hugh MacMillan Sr. (August 11, 1869 – October 20, 1944) was an American businessman, president of Cargill from 1909 to 1936. Early life John Hugh MacMillan was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the son of Duncan McMillan, a director of the Sta ...

and Edna Clara Cargill, the daughter of

William Wallace Cargill William Wallace Cargill (December 15, 1844 – October 17, 1909) was an American businessman. In 1865, he founded Cargill, which by 2008 was the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue, employing over 150, ...

, the founder of Cargill. He attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. After graduating Yale he entered the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

artillery, rising to the rank of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

when he was 23. McMillian served in France during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Career

After the war, he worked as a trader on the floor of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce for

, the family grain business. His aggressive management style led Cargill employees to revolt in 1925. He took over for his father as president of Cargill in 1936 and grew the family-owned business significantly. He invested in the United States and expanded Cargill's operations into Europe and South America. During his tenure, sales topped $1 billion for the first time. He was succeeded by Erwin Kelm

Personal life

He married Marion Dickson (July 14, 1892 - November 22, 1980). They had children: *

John Hugh MacMillan John Hugh Macmillan III (February 28, 1928 - April 23, 2008) was an American billionaire businessman. Early life He was born on February 28, 1928, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of John H. Macmillan Jr. and Marion Dickson, and grew up in Wa ...

(died 2008) *

Whitney Duncan MacMillan William Duncan MacMillan (July 5, 1930 - October 31, 2006) was an American businessman, a director of Cargill. He is not to be confused with Whitney MacMillan, William's first cousin, born in 1929. Early life He was born on July 5, 1930, the so ...

(died 2006) *

Marion MacMillan Pictet Marion Hamilton MacMillan Pictet (October 17, 1932 - August 30, 2009) was an American heiress.Brian SolomonThe Secretive Cargill Billionaires And Their Family Tree ''Forbes'', 9/22/2011 She was a great-granddaughter of William Wallace Cargill, th ...

(1930-2009)

Death

MacMillan died on December 23, 1960, and is buried at Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis.

References

1895 births 1960 deaths United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War I Cargill people 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1890s-stub