An 11-bedroom estate, three private planes, and an 8,000-square-foot vacation home. This is the empire that cheese built.
Multi-billionaire James Leprino, 79, recently sat down with Forbes to discuss how America's obsession with pizza made him a fortune. The entrepreneur is essentially unknown, which is by no mistake, as he claims to avoid publicity on purpose. "I really like to keep my privacy," Leprino told Forbes.
The history of his success actually began with failure. Back in 1958 his father's grocery store in Denver, CO went out of business. But with $615, some luck, and keen observation skills, Leprino was able to start what has now become a cheese empire — the likes of which the world has never seen before.
Leprino Foods literally sells a billion pounds of cheese a year, according to the Forbes report. His products are purchased by Domino's, Papa Johns, Little Caeser's, and Pizza Hut. Because of the company's ability to make cheese efficiently, in combination with his longstanding relationships with chains like Pizza Hut (dating back to it's inaugural year in 1958), James Leprino has control of 85 percent of the pizza cheese market, according to Forbes.
Leprino Foods also sells cheese or whey products to frozen pizza companies, Stouffer's lasagna, Hot Pockets, Yoplait, and even infant formula.
So what does this man, who has touched our lives in such a personal way look like? No clue. He even declined to take a picture for the Forbes interview.
For all we know, he is just a large wheel of cheese with a mustache, top hat, and cane. (And a bankroll thicker than a Chicago deep dish.)
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