Michel P. Fribourg (1913 – 10 April 2001) was a Belgian-born Jewish-American billionaire businessman, the chairman and CEO of

Continental Grain ContiGroup Companies, Inc (CGC) was founded by Simon Fribourg in Arlon, Belgium, in 1813 as a grain-trading firm. Formerly known as Continental Grain, ContiGroup has expanded into a multinational corporation with offices and facilities in 10 c ...

, a global agribusiness and food company founded by Simon Fribourg in Arlon, Belgium in 1813. In his ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' obituary, he was called "certainly the premier figure in world trade in food of the 20th century".

Early life

Fribourg was born in Antwerp and educated in France.

Career

He worked all of his life for

a company owned by his family, rising to chairman and CEO. In 1944, following the death of his father, he became the fifth generation of Fribourgs to lead Continental Grain. In 1998, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' estimated his net worth at $2.4 billion, based on his ownership of Continental Grain and 75% of ContiFinancial.

Personal life

He was married to Mary Ann. They had five children, sons Robert Fribourg, Paul J. Fribourg, Charles Fribourg, Nadine Newman and Caroline Rosen. He died in New York on 10 April 2001.

References

1913 births 2001 deaths American billionaires American people of Belgian-Jewish descent 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Jews Belgian businesspeople Belgian emigrants to the United States Belgian Jews {{US-business-bio-stub