Net Worth: $2.3 B

LAST YEAR: $2.9 B
CHANGE: -21%
AGE: 99
RESIDENCE: Lake Sherwood
SOURCE OF WEALTH: Food distribution/manufacturing, investments

THE MONEY: Murdock’s wealth is largely tied to Dole Food Co. Inc. and its former parent company, Castle & Cooke Inc. In 1985, Murdock-owned Flexi-Van Corp. merged with Castle & Cooke, a Hawaii-based food and real estate entity. Dole was spun off from Castle & Cooke in 1995. Murdock privatized the produce distributor in 2003 and it went public once more in 2009. It was again purchased by Murdock in 2013 in a deal worth $1.2 billion. He stayed as chief executive of Dole through 2017. Ireland-based Total Produce bought a 45% share of the company in 2018 for $300 million. Murdock stepped down from Dole’s board last year.

THE BUZZ: Dole’s stock debuted on the NYSE at $15 a share in July 2021 and dropped to about $9 this summer. The world’s largest fresh-produce company in the world hit a rough patch when several of its plants were forced to close after outbreaks of listeria, in addition to volatility in the markets. The company has a market cap of around $890 million. Castle & Cooke hasn’t been too active in mergers and acquisitions during the past year, but late last year sold its fixed-base operation, which is a kind of terminal in a general aviation airport, in Seattle to Propeller Aero Services.