Scott Simplot (born 1947) is the chairman and chief executive officer of the

J.R. Simplot Company The J. R. Simplot Company (commonly referred to as Simplot) is an agribusiness company headquartered in Boise, Idaho. History Simplot was founded in 1929 by 20-year-old John Richard Simplot near the agricultural community of Declo in south ...

and formerly the wealthiest man in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

Early life and education

Simplot is the youngest son of J.R. Simplot, the founder of the diversified agriculture company J.R. Simplot Company, and his first wife Rudy Rosevear. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business from the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The Universit ...

in 1968 and went on to earn a

Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

(MBA) from the

Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1973.

Career

Simplot first obtained a seat on the J.R. Simplot Company board of directors in 1970 and was hired as the company's director of planning and information technology in 1973, following his graduation from Wharton. He was quickly promoted to more senior positions and became chairman of the board of directors in 2001 after he reportedly "pushed out" his father, J.R.; the two adopted markedly different approaches to management. During his time at J.R. Simplot Company, Simplot has been credited with engineering the company's lucrative early-stage investment in Micron Technology, which grew to 22-percent of that company by 1996. He is also responsible for the company's 2003 purchase of the Australian arm of

John West Foods John West Foods is a United Kingdom-based seafood marketing company established in 1857, and currently owned by Thai Union Group of Thailand. The company produces canned salmon and tuna, as well as mackerel, sardine, herring, brisling, anchovi ...

. In addition to his seat on the J.R. Simplot Company board, he also serves on the boards of directors of nearly a dozen other companies. In 2016, ''

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 r ...

'' named him the wealthiest man in Idaho, with an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion.

Personal life

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Tele ...

'' described Simplot as being "unassuming, with a thoughtful, almost professorial air," a marked contrast to his gregarious father, which was reflected in their different management styles with J.R. acting on hunches and Scott preferring detailed analysis of potential business actions. He is divorced and has two daughters. His sister, Gay Simplot, is also a billionaire and works with Scott in running the J.R. Simplot company. Gay is divorced from the former

Governor of Idaho A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Butch Otter Clement Leroy "Butch" Otter (born May 3, 1942) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 32nd governor of Idaho from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2006, and reelected in 2010, and 2014. Otter ...

. In 2004 Simplot received an honorary doctorate in Administrative Science from the University of Idaho in recognition of "lifelong achievement, public service, and significant contributions to the state of Idaho and the nation."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simplot, Scott 1947 births Living people Businesspeople from Idaho University of Idaho alumni Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni American billionaires 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople