Whole Foods Market was founded by John Mackey, a businessman, and author. He’s a major player in the organic food market and a key opinion leader. Thanks to his entrepreneurial acumen, John Mackey is now an 85-million-dollar guy. The successful entrepreneur’s path to wealth is outlined below.
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Mackey’s Early Life
John Mackey entered this world on August 15, 1953, in Houston, Texas. He started his academic career at Trinity University before transferring to the University of Texas in Austin to study philosophy and religion. Mackey spent nearly six years in college but dropped out without graduating. Mackey worked for a vegetarian co-op during his college years. Mackey’s mother disapproved of his retail work and their relationship suffered as a result. On the other hand, Mackey and his father had a close bond, and the elder Mackey was an early investor in Whole Foods Market and a strong supporter of his son’s career. Mackey says he learned a lot of wisdom from his father.
His Early Business Endeavors
John Mackey was seeing a girl named Renee Lawson, whom he’d met in a vegetarian housing co-op they both called home during their time at university. In 1978, the couple decided to forgo higher education in favor of launching a business. They saved up $35,000 and borrowed $10,000 to launch their company. Since there were only a handful of mom-and-pop health food shops in Austin, they decided to open one. Mackey and Lawson settled on the name SaferWay for their company. The rented building had three stories.
On the ground level was their health food store, and on the second floor was their health food restaurant. After their marriage ended, the former couple moved into the apartment on the third floor above their respective businesses. A year after its initial opening, Whole Foods Market was nearly destroyed by a disaster. The severe floods in Austin caused extensive damage to Whole Foods Market, including the loss of nearly all of its inventory. But with support from employees, lenders, and locals, the shop reopened just 28 days later.
In 1984, the first store outside of Austin opened in Houston, and two years later, a second store opened in Dallas. After acquiring The Whole Food Co. in 1988, the company was able to grow and eventually open a location in New Orleans. The next year, a second location opened in nearby Palo Alto. The company went public for the first time back in 1992. The corporation maintained its rapid growth throughout the remainder of the 1990s. Its quick expansion was fueled by the purchase of other natural food stores like Bread & Circus, Wellspring Grocery, Bread of Life, Merchant of Vino, Allegro Coffee Company, Fresh Fields Markets, Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Foods, and Nature Heartland.
The company expanded throughout the 2000s by acquiring others, such as Harry’s Farmers Market and Wild Oats Market, Inc. Also about this time, the firm opened its first Canadian store, in Toronto. The company’s headquarters and flagship store were both established in Austin, Texas in 2005. In 2009, Mackey stepped down from his role as chairman but continued in his role as CEO. As a result of Mackey’s confidence in John B. Elstrott’s ability to lead the company into the future, Elstrott has taken over as chairman.
Amazon paid $13.7 billion to acquire Whole Foods Market in 2017. Although Amazon now owns the company, John Mackey will continue to serve as CEO. It opened up shop in both Canada and the United Kingdom after Amazon bought the company. The company is an established brick-and-mortar and online shop, with over 500 outlets in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In total, there are around 91,000 people employed throughout 12 distinct regions.
Founding Whole Foods
After two years in operation, Mackey and Lawson combined their company with Clarksville Natural Grocery, owned by Craig Weller and Mark Siles. Whole Foods Market is the new name for the company that emerged from this. Whole Foods Market is commonly agreed upon to have been founded by Mackey, Lawson, Weller, and Siles. The Austin location of the new enterprise was 10,500 square feet, making it significantly larger than rival health food stores. The workforce increased from 12 to 19. Whole Foods Market, unlike SaferWay, offered meat options for customers.
Other Ventures
John Mackey is a writer in addition to being the co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market. The 2013 best-seller “Conscious Capitalism,” which he co-authored, has sold over a million copies. Mackey’s extracurricular activities include sitting on the boards of directors for several charitable organizations. The Humane Society of the United States, the Global Animal Partnership, Students for Liberty, and Conscious Capitalism are all examples of such groups.
John Mackey’s Net Worth
As a result of his business acumen, John Mackey has amassed considerable wealth. John Mackey has a net worth of $85 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Primarily, his role as co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market is responsible for his wealth. Publishing a book has also been profitable for him. Mackey amassed his wealth even though he now works for next to nothing. In 2006, he said that he was going to reduce his pay to a dollar a year. He claimed he was financially secure and working no longer had any appeal.
The Businessman’s Personal Life
John Mackey was in a long-term relationship with Mary Kay Hagen after his divorce from Renee Lawson, with whom he co-founded Whole Foods Market. Mackey tied the knot with Deborah Morin back in 1991. In other words, they’re a childless couple. They spend their weekdays in their Austin home. They have a 720-acre ranch to the west of Austin, and on weekends, they like to spend time there.
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