Forrest Mars Net Worth, Biography and Career

Forrest Mars Net Worth $24.4 Billion

Forrest Mars Sr. was an American business tycoon and the creator of the successful and popular M & M Empire. He is best remembered for Mars candy which includes the Mars bar and M&M’s. Mr. Mars was estranged from his father after a squabble and took a buyout for Mars, Inc. He then moved to the United Kingdom where he created and marketed the Mars bar. While in Europe he worked for the Tobler company and Nestle as well.

He returned to the United States and started Food Products Manufacturing, and later developed Pedigree and Uncle Ben’s Rice. In 1940 when he was 36 years old, he developed M&M’s with another entrepreneur named Bruce Murrie.

Although Mars was allergic to peanuts, he created peanut M&M’s in 1954. His father passed away in 1964 Forrest took over his father’s Mars Company and merged it with his own business, and went on to build what has become one of the biggest businesses in the world today.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born Forrest Edward Mars in Wadena, Minnesota, the United States, in March 1904. His father was Frank Mars, an American businessman, and candy factory owner.

He attended Yale University from which he earned a degree in industrial engineering in 1928.

Professional Life: Businesses

While he ardently sought to avoid publicity, Mr. Mars routinely ended up in published articles noting him as one of the wealthiest Americans. The company he established and handed over to his sons in 1973, now sells some 20 billion dollars worth of candy, snacks, and pet food every year, according to Joel Glenn Brenner, publisher of ”Emperors of Chocolate’.

Along with M & M’s, Skittles, Three Musketeers, Milky Way, and Snickers, the company, based in McLean, Virginia, owns the Kudos, Combos, and Twix brands; Kal-Kan and Uncle Ben’s rice, and Pedigree pet food. Born in 1904, Mars inherited the privately held company from his own father, Frank.

The two ended up having issues with their relationship and business and Forrest Mars moved to England to market his Milky Way candy, and later returned to the United States during World War II and introduced a candy-coated chocolate that he called M & M’s. In the year 1964, he combined his company, called Food Manufacturers, which was known for, among other things, inventing Uncle Ben’s converted rice, with Mars Inc.

Mr. Mars, who had earlier declared a goal of making his inherited already-successful candy business a global powerhouse, managed Mars with a system of clear rewards and penalties. Employees were to keep their desktops clean and neat. Managers who failed to meet profit and growth targets were dismissed.

To this day, employees who arrive to work on time all week qualify for a 10% bonus in their paychecks, while those who are late are docked 10%. Everyone, from the executive suite down, is supposed to pay attention to the rules. He is also credited with coming up with a method for processing rice that extended its shelf life, made its cooking simpler, and increased its nutritional value.

He marketed the rice as Uncle Ben’s. At one point he decided to create a pet food category after realizing that people could be persuaded to purchase food particularly processed for their pets.

Although he officially retired from running his company in 1973 and started unaffiliated businesses selling plant food and boxes of chocolates, among other things, Mars continued to look in on the company’s businesses and to call his sons on the carpet if he detected any problems.

In 1992 when the company’s performance disappointed him, he arranged a meeting with the president of Nestle to orchestrate a buyout. Until his passing, a series of trusts that control the company’s ownership prevented his three children from selling the company.

Personal Life: Family, Demise

Mr. Forrest Mars died on July 1, 1999, at the age of 95. His survivors include his sons, Forrest Jr., who has since stepped down as co-president of the candy company, and John, who remains president, and his daughter, Jacqueline Mars Vogel. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren. His wife, Audrey Ruth Meyer, died in 1989.

Forrest Mars Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Investments

During his time alive, Mr. Mars mainly dealt with his candy and pet food business and invested his time, money, and attention in it. At the time of his passing, he had a fortune of 24.4 billion dollars. When he retired in 1973, he turned the business over to his three children Forrest Jr., John, and Jacqueline.

While he was retired, he founded another business named Ethel M Chocolates which was later bought by Mars, Inc. in 1988.

Mr. Forrest Mars had been ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 30th richest American. He made his wealth after many years of working very hard and succeeded in building an empire for his children and many generations unborn, and for this legacy, the late American businessman will not be forgotten in a hurry.