Idaho Billionaire Buys Up Hawaii, Locals Not Thrilled
Idaho's wealthiest person is Frank VanderSloot with a net worth of $3.5 Billion but was born into a poor farming family. He is now the only billionaire in the gem state. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Frank was born in 1948 and is an American entrepreneur who grew up in Sheridan, Wyoming, Hardin, Montana, and Cocallala, Idaho.
1985 was his big year and the one that started his fortune. He created, started and founded Melaleuca, Inc., a company that sells over 400 personal care and cleaning products, as well as nutritional supplements, via its own "Consumer Direct Marketing" plan. The company has grown exponentially and now operates in several countries.
He is also the 4th largest land owner in Idaho. BoisePublicRadio says "Though VanderSloot’s company sells personal care products, he also raises horses and cattle on his 110,448 acres."
Now he is buying up quite a bit of acres on Kauai, Hawaii. According to KITV in Hawaii, "More than 2,000 acres on Kauai's northeastern coast could soon be home to more than 500 cattle, as planned by the property's new owner, Frank VanderSloot, owner of nutritional supplements company Melaleuca. Before VanderSloot bought the property for $51.2 million. As the owner of Hawaii's two main meat processing plants, VanderSloot hopes to eventually handle 35 to 40 percent of Hawaii's meat."
That is not the only Hawaii land that he owns. According to another Hawaii website called Beat of Hawaii, "Vandersloot also owns Valley House, the storied 102 acre estate in Kealia. He paid $14.3 million for that purchase back in 2016. Located on Kauai’s eastside, the property has a legendary past and is replete with the island’s only inland-facing waterfall. It was the site of the first major hotel on the island."