Rank #1713
James Leprino
Net worth $2.2B
Cheese · United States
- Born
- Nov 22, 1937
- Age
- 88
- Source
- Cheese
- Residence
- Indian Hills, Colorado
- Citizenship
- United States
- Marital status
- Children
- 2
- Education
- High School Graduate, High School
Net worth over time
Biography
- James Leprino owns the world's largest mozzarella cheese maker, with $3.5 billion in estimated annual sales.
- His Leprino Foods is the exclusive supplier of cheese to Domino's, Papa John's and Pizza Hut.
- After graduating high school in 1956, he started working with his father full-time at his market.
- In 1958, after larger chain grocery stores had forced the Leprino market to close, the Leprino Foods cheese empire started with $615.
- Today, Leprino Foods has more than 50 patents. Those innovations are essentially how Leprino created the "pizza cheese" that Americans eat today.
- When Leprino Foods became the exclusive cheese supplier to Domino's in 1996, the contract was more of a handshake than a legal document at just one page long.