THE MONEY

The primary sources of Murdock’s wealth are his ownership of produce distributor and marketer Dole Foods Co. in Westlake Village and its former parent company Castle & Cooke Inc. The latter includes real estate holdings ranging from residential, office and retail developments to golf clubs and resorts, along with various manufacturing, mining and building-material operations and a chassis lessor that services truck fleets.
THE BUZZ

Dole filed for an IPO, then got deep into talks on a sale to Belgium-based Greenyard NV before calling both deals off in a matter of days in January. Greenyard chose its words about the breakup carefully enough to suggest the $2.5 billion price tag – higher than prior estimates of Dole’s value – was in the ballpark. Couple that with Castle & Cooke’s spread over asset categories well positioned to capitalize on the current economy and the 95-year-old looks to be well ahead of the game.

NET WORTH

$4 billion

+11%

Last year: $3.6 billion

AGE: 95

RESIDENCE: Los Angeles

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Food distribution, investments