Cargill: CEO History

Cargill is the quiet titan underpinning the global food system. Operating out of Minnetonka, Minnesota, the company touches almost every staple food item consumed globally—from the flour in bread and the sweetener in beverages to the feed that nourishes livestock. Owned privately by the Cargill-MacMillan family for six generations, the company has operated through world wars, famines, and global trade shifts while remaining America's largest private enterprise.

Cargill generates revenue by sourcing, transporting, storing, processing, and trading agricultural commodities and formulated food ingredients. In Agriculture & Trading, Cargill buys corn, wheat, soybeans, and barley from millions of farmers globally, leveraging its proprietary network of country elevators, railcars, river barges, and ocean vessels to arbitrate geographic price spreads and deliver bulk commodities to international import hubs. In Processing & Protein, Cargill crushes oilseeds into vegetable oils and meal, mills starches and corn sweeteners, and operates commercial beef and poultry processing facilities (including its joint acquisition of Sanderson Farms). In Food & Bioindustrial, Cargill formulates specialty ingredients, emulsifiers, texturizers, and renewable industrial oils for multinational consumer food packaged goods companies (Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever).