David Howard Murdock (born 1924) is an American businessman. Forbes estimates he is the 214th richest person in the world, with a net worth of 4.7 billion US Dollars. A high-school dropout, Murdock was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1943.
In 1985 he took over the nearly bankrupt Hawaiian firm Castle & Cooke, which owned pineapple producer Dole Food Company. He developed Castle & Cooke's real estate portfolio into residential and commercial properties, and turned Dole into the world's largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Dole has generated "negative free cash flow (defined as cash flow from operations less dividends and capital expenditures) annually since 2005, the company remained free cash flow negative during the first half of fiscal 2008" (Fitch Ratings, July 30th 2008).
He married Tracy Murdock in 1999, ex-wife of Fashion Designer Bijan. Tracy Murdock is an interior designer who has influenced Castle & Cooke Aviation's facilities to be well-known and recognized for world-class comfort, quality, and privacy.
Murdock is a US citizen. He has been divorced three times. He had three children, with his first wife, but two are now deceased. He is now widowed.
More recently Murdock has helped contribute to the redevelopment of a 5.8 million square-foot complex in Kannapolis, North Carolina of a biotechnology research center known as the North Carolina Research Campus. The research center is a joint public-private venture, involving major North Carolina universities and private investment. The site of the research center in the middle of Kannapolis was formerly occupied by Plant #1 of Cannon Mills (which became Pillowtex after a series of mergers and acquisitions). Pillowtex filed for bankruptcy in 2003, and closed the once-thriving mill where Cannon towels and sheets were made, and was the basis for the creation of the town of Kannapolis. The closing of Plant #1 resulted in the largest mass layoff of workers in North Carolina history. Murdock acquired the site and demolished the mill, with the demolition completed in 2006.
External links
|
