Who Founded Bunge?

Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge · Founded 1818 · HQ today: St. Louis, Missouri

Who founded Bunge?

Bunge was founded by Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge in 1818. It is now led by Gregory A. Heckman.

Founders: Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge
Founded: 1818
Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri
Number of founders: 1
Current CEO: Gregory A. Heckman (since 2019)

Where was Bunge founded?: Bunge was founded in Chesterfield, Missouri in 1818.
When was Bunge founded?: Bunge was founded in 1818.
Who started Bunge?: Bunge was founded by Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge.
How old is Bunge?: Bunge is 208 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge founded Bunge & Co. as an import-export trading house in Amsterdam in 1818. His grandsons took the business abroad: Edouard Bunge moved the firm's base to Antwerp in 1859, and Ernest Bunge went to Argentina, where in 1884 he and the Born family launched the grain trading company that became Bunge y Born. Argentina was turning into a major grain exporter, and the venture grew into elevators, flour milling and export logistics. Bunge expanded into Brazil in 1905 and began trading in North America in 1918. For most of the 20th century it was a privately held agribusiness and food conglomerate centred on South America; a restructuring from 1993 to 1997 refocused it on agribusiness, and it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001.

Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge

Co-founder 1818

Background

Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge was a merchant who set up Bunge & Co. as an import-export trading business in Amsterdam in 1818. Bunge's own published history says little about his life beyond the founding; the company's international shape came from his grandsons Edouard and Ernest, who took the firm to Antwerp and Buenos Aires.

Role at Bunge Global SA

Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge founded Bunge & Co. in Amsterdam in 1818 as an import-export house. The business stayed in the family, and his grandsons turned it into an international grain company: Edouard Bunge moved its base to Antwerp in 1859, and Ernest Bunge went to Argentina, where in 1884 he and the Born family started the grain trading company that became Bunge y Born. That venture built elevators, mills and export logistics as Argentina became a leading grain exporter, then expanded into Brazil in 1905 and North America in 1918. The company stayed privately held for 183 years, until its 2001 listing on the New York Stock Exchange, and still carries the founder's surname more than two centuries later.

Bunge Global SA: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Gregory A. Heckman

Chief Executive Officer

2019 – Present

Heckman joined Bunge's board in October 2018, when activist investors D.E. Shaw and Continental Grain pushed for change, became acting CEO on 22 January 2019 and CEO in April 2019. He had been CEO of The Gavilon Group from 2008 to 2015, a founding partner of Flatwater Partners, and earlier chief operating officer of ConAgra Foods Commercial Products. As CEO he moved headquarters to St. Louis, reorganized Bunge around global value chains, exited sugar and bioenergy, sold corn milling and US interior elevators, took Bunge into the S&P 500 in 2023 and completed the Viterra merger in July 2025. He holds a B.S. in agricultural economics and marketing from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Soren Schroder

Chief Executive Officer

2013 – 2019

Schroder became CEO in June 2013. His tenure included a takeover approach from Glencore in 2017 and a reported approach from ADM in January 2018. After investors pushed for board changes, Bunge announced on 10 December 2018 that he would step down, and Heckman replaced him on 22 January 2019.

Alberto Weisser

Chief Executive Officer

1999 – 2013

Weisser led Bunge as it moved its headquarters from São Paulo to the New York area and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001, then through the 2002 Cereol acquisition that made it the world's largest soybean processor.

Keep researching Bunge

Who Founded Bunge? FAQ

Who founded Bunge?

Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge, who set up Bunge & Co. as an import-export trading house in Amsterdam in 1818.

How did the Bunge family expand the company?

Through his grandsons. Edouard Bunge moved the firm to Antwerp in 1859, and Ernest Bunge went to Argentina, where in 1884 he and the Born family launched the grain trading company that became Bunge y Born.

What happened to the Bunge y Born business in Argentina?

It became one of Argentina's largest industrial groups. In 1974 the Montoneros guerrilla group kidnapped executives Jorge and Juan Born, who were freed after a ransom reported at $60 million. The group later refocused on agribusiness in the 1990s.

Is the Bunge family still involved?

Bunge was privately held by about 180 shareholders, including the long-standing family interests, until its 2001 NYSE listing. Today it is a widely held public company with no controlling shareholder.

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