Scion of candy empire Mars Inc.
Forrest E. Mars Jr., a billionaire scion of the reclusive family that satisfied America’s sweet tooth with the Milky Way candy bar and M&M’s and who helped build Mars Inc. into the world’s largest confectionary company, died Tuesday in Seattle. He was 84.
The company, which he inherited with his brother and sister in 1973, said the cause was a heart attack.
Mr. Mars and his brother, John, were co-presidents of the company, which sold about $1 billion worth of candy when their father turned over control. By the time Forrest Mars Jr. retired from active management in 1999, it was an $18 billion-ayear company, selling Snickers, Uncle Ben’s Rice and Pedigree pet food. Since its acquisition in 2008 of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., the chewing gum manufacturer, Mars reports sales of $35 billion a year and has 80,000 employees worldwide.
Mr. Mars played an early role in the company’s global expansion, was group vice president for confectionary operations and became copresident with his brother in 1975 as Mars tapped new markets from Africa to Russia.
“Forrest Jr. and his brother are the ones to be credited with making that business a diversified global empire,” said Joel Glenn Brenner, who wrote “The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars” in 1999. “They were both scarred by their father’s harsh and unforgiving manner, but they had tremendous respect for his business acumen, codified his philosophy and, through the many Mars grandchildren, made certain that the company would continue in perpetuity.”
According to the latest Forbes magazine rankings, Mr. Mars is worth about $25 billion (he owns an 82,000acre ranch in Montana), and Mars Inc. typically ranks among the nation’s top 10 privately held companies.
Although the company is not famous for its public philanthropy, Mr. Mars was personally honored for his commitment to historic preservation, as a donor of tens of millions of dollars to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and, until a falling out with the executive director, to Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York. He also gave anonymously to other causes.
Mr. Mars’ grandfather Frank was a failed candymaker until, according to legend, his son, Forrest Sr., suggested incorporating chocolate malt into his Mar-O-Bar, and the Milky Way was born.
Forrest Mars Sr. was also credited with inventing M&M’s, inspired by a lentilshaped candy he saw soldiers eating during a visit behind the lines during the Spanish Civil War. He named it for the Mars and Murrie families; William F.R. Murrie was the president of Hershey, whose chocolate Mars needed to make the candy, before the two companies became fierce rivals.
Forrest Mars Sr. was domineering and possessed a volcanic temper — in contrast to the more benevolent candy king Milton Hershey.
Forrest Edward Mars Jr. was born in Oak Park, Ill., on Aug. 16, 1931, to Forrest Mars Sr. and the former Audrey Ruth Meyer, a volunteer at cancer fundraising organizations.
Mr. Mars is survived by his wife, the former Jacomien Ford; four daughters, Victoria Mars, Pamela Mars-Wright, Valerie Mars and Marijke Mars; 11 grandchildren; and two greatgrandchildren.