Net Worth: $3 billion

LAST YEAR: $2.3 billion
CHANGE: 24%
AGE: 63
RESIDENCE: Lake Sherwood
SOURCE OF WEALTH: Food distribution/manufacturing, investments

Murdock was chief executive of Dole Food Co. Inc. until 2017 and on the company’s board until 2021. Murdock’s connection to Dole dates back to 1985 when his company Flexi-Van Corp. merged with Westlake Village-based Castle & Cooke, a food and real estate entity. Castle & Cooke spun off Dole in 1995. Murdock privatized Dole in 2003, but it went public again in 2009. Murdock bought it again in 2013 in a deal worth $1.2 billion.

Dole: The company’s market cap is up 9% year-over-year. Murdock still maintains 12.6% of the company stock. Education: Murdock, who is dyslexic, dropped out of high school in the ninth grade and worked at a gas station before being drafted into the Army in 1943.

Charitable Giving: Since 2014, Murdock has given $15 million per year to a campus he helped build in Kannapolis, N.C. for research on nutrition. In 2022, his company Castle & Cooke exited the investment and sold the land to Insight Properties for an undisclosed sum.

Real Estate: Murdock owns Ventura Farms in Thousand Oaks, which is known for breeding and training Arabian horses.