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JON MEADE HUNTSMAN: THE CARTON KING WITH A BIG AMBITION: TO DIE BROKE
The Mormon billionaire who bought ICI Chemicals first went to work
on an egg, he tells Margareta Pagano
MARGARETA PAGANO Friday 13 June 2014
Well, here goes. The man behind the clam is Jon Meade Huntsman, a
big bear of an American from Idaho, who dreamt up the idea for the
clamshells after inventing some rather clever new plastic cartons for
eggs to stop them from breaking. After coming up with the Styrofoam
cartons for eggs in his thirties, it was only a matter of time before
he designed the packaging for Big Macs, moving on to making plastic
plates and all manner of useful things.
>From such inauspicious beginnings great fortunes are hatched. Today
Mr Huntsman heads the world's biggest speciality chemicals company,
Huntsman Corporation, with revenues of $11bn (£6.5bn), 12,000 employees
and operations in 80 countries making chemicals, pigments and dyes
for the food, textiles, aerospace and drugs industries.
Huntsman makes thousands of different products that are used in
detergents as well as the new carbon-fibre chassis of the latest
Lamborghini Aventador. Only Araldite is branded.
All this makes Mr Huntsman one of the world's wealthiest self-made
men as his family owns 20 per cent of Huntsman Corporation, valued at
$7bn on the NYSE. But he gives back, and is second only to Bill Gates
in the world for his generous philanthropy, giving more than a $1bn to
charity. He founded the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of
Utah with his wife, Karen, now one of the world's pioneers in cancer
research with around 2,000 medical experts working on 200 different
cancers. He supports scholarships for one of his favourite projects
- educating the under-privileged - and has given more than $50m in
aid to Armenia and many more charities. He has said he wants to die
"broke" by giving away everything to charity.
Mr Huntsman is 77 next week. He has survived cancer himself four times
and suffers from a rare skin disease. Yet here he is holding court in
a rather ordinary suite on the eighth floor of the Park Tower Hotel
in Knightsbridge. And he is still wheeling and dealing. He has flown
over from the US to talk to his UK employees and to promote another
new venture, the stunning Huntsman Springs holiday resort in the Teton
Valley, close to Jackson's Hole, where he also breeds white buffaloes.
What on earth makes him still going? "You know, I've been working
since I was a young boy. We lived in the most rural part of Idaho
where my father was a teacher; one of those schools where there were
only four teachers to the 12th grade. Life was tough, we had outside
plumbing and no money; I was picking potatoes when I was eight.
"In my teens I worked to help pay for my father's studies at Stanford.
I decided then that I never wanted to depend on anyone or work for
anyone else but to be an entrepreneur. So I've been working and giving
all my life. In Vietnam I gave away some of my pay to families who
had less. It's what I do and giving is part of my Mormon faith."
It all started with the egg. After being funded through university, Mr
Huntsman went to work for his uncle at the egg-producing company Olson
Brothers in Los Angeles. They were losing money because so many eggs
broke during delivery - and that's when he came up with the idea for
polystyrene cartons, setting up a joint venture with Dow Chemical to
develop the science. In 1970 he and his brother set up on their own; he
mortgaged his house and borrowed heavily from the banks. The clamshells
came in 1974, and from there he grew the business aggressively, buying
more than three dozen companies in one decade and taking on even more
debt. At one stage, the company's borrowings were 15 times cash flow.
So you like to gamble, I suggest? "Oh yes, this was pure gambling.
But it was a risk I had to take to grow the company. Only one of the
companies I bought wasn't good."
If risk-taking is like breathing to him, then doing battle is what
he calls his "sport".In 2008, long after he had retired as chief
executive, he took on the private equity group Apollo Management
after it backed out of a deal to buy out Huntsman. He won.
The company is now is run by Peter Huntsman, one of his nine children.
"I spend about half my time here and the rest on charitable work.
Don't tell my shareholders," he says, laughing.
They are unlikely to mind too much: Huntsman stock is trading at new
highs and business is looking up in the US, Europe and UK. "The media
doesn't cover this but Europe is looking much brighter."
So is the UK, where he employs 2,000, having bought ICI Chemicals
in 1999.
Business is booming in the US, but the political situation is bad:
"It's a divided nation. I've never seen the political scene so
polarised. It never used to be like this: Republicans and Democrats
would argue badly but we would always work together. Not any more."
He flirted with a political career after working as chief of staff
to President Nixon in his early thirties, but decided that the cut
and thrust of business was more to his liking than politics - he was
disappointed to discover that Nixon gave nothing to charity. Yet he
likes the company of politicians: the Thatchers were friends and came
to stay in Idaho (the stories he has to tell about Denis and why he
provided gin in the otherwise alcohol- free lodge are hysterical).
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew has also been a visitor.
He doesn't have much time for today's leaders: "President Obama is a
total wreck. The Republicans are deeply divided with a growing number
of extremists. It's time for some damage control but unfortunately
most US politicians are dimwits."
Apart from his son. Jon Huntsman Jnr is a former ambassador to
Singapore and China, and twice governor of Utah, He was a presidential
candidate for the Republicans at the last election. He heads the
Atlantic Council think-tank and co-chairs the No Labels group, a
mix of Democrats, Republicans and independents who want to promote
problem-solving rather than point-scoring.
Only a few days ago Salt Lake City was buzzing with rumours that
Jon Jnr will run again at the next elections. His father won't say:
"I don't know whether Jon will run but I do know he would make a
brilliant president - he's a diplomat, a businessman and he's been
governor twice."
What he did say is this: "If Hillary Clinton runs for president,
she'll win by a landslide. She's very able and competent and Jon knows
her well. Jon would be perfect as Vice-President or maybe Secretary
of State. Now that would be a great combination."
You read it here first.
Day in the life: the personal touch
Jon Huntsman used to get up at 6am, be at the office at 7am and work
until 8pm, but nowadays takes it a little easier, largely due to his
health. No day is the same, but about a third of his time is spent
visiting his businesses around the world and meeting staff. His wife
often comes with him. He also spends a lot of time visiting the cancer
institute and other charities, scholarship students.
He has just finished the book "The Emperor of all Maladies", about
the evolution of cancer. He also likes autobiographies and enjoyed
"The Fourth Star".
Car: Lincoln Navigator
Planes: Two Gulfstream 4SPs. One used for business and one for
humanitarian use - taking cancer patients, church use, etc.
CV
Jon Meade Huntsman
Born: 21 June 1937 in Blackfoot, Idaho.
Education: Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USC
Marshall School of Business.
Career: Olson Brothers. Dolco Packaging Corporation.
Founder and chairman: Hunstman Corporation
Family: Married to Karen, nine children and 56 grandchildren.
Charities: Huntsman Cancer Institute; Aid to Armenia; University
of Utah.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/jon-meade-huntsman-the-carton-king-with-a-big-ambition-to-die-broke-9536598.html
The Mormon billionaire who bought ICI Chemicals first went to work
on an egg, he tells Margareta Pagano
MARGARETA PAGANO Friday 13 June 2014
Well, here goes. The man behind the clam is Jon Meade Huntsman, a
big bear of an American from Idaho, who dreamt up the idea for the
clamshells after inventing some rather clever new plastic cartons for
eggs to stop them from breaking. After coming up with the Styrofoam
cartons for eggs in his thirties, it was only a matter of time before
he designed the packaging for Big Macs, moving on to making plastic
plates and all manner of useful things.
>From such inauspicious beginnings great fortunes are hatched. Today
Mr Huntsman heads the world's biggest speciality chemicals company,
Huntsman Corporation, with revenues of $11bn (£6.5bn), 12,000 employees
and operations in 80 countries making chemicals, pigments and dyes
for the food, textiles, aerospace and drugs industries.
Huntsman makes thousands of different products that are used in
detergents as well as the new carbon-fibre chassis of the latest
Lamborghini Aventador. Only Araldite is branded.
All this makes Mr Huntsman one of the world's wealthiest self-made
men as his family owns 20 per cent of Huntsman Corporation, valued at
$7bn on the NYSE. But he gives back, and is second only to Bill Gates
in the world for his generous philanthropy, giving more than a $1bn to
charity. He founded the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of
Utah with his wife, Karen, now one of the world's pioneers in cancer
research with around 2,000 medical experts working on 200 different
cancers. He supports scholarships for one of his favourite projects
- educating the under-privileged - and has given more than $50m in
aid to Armenia and many more charities. He has said he wants to die
"broke" by giving away everything to charity.
Mr Huntsman is 77 next week. He has survived cancer himself four times
and suffers from a rare skin disease. Yet here he is holding court in
a rather ordinary suite on the eighth floor of the Park Tower Hotel
in Knightsbridge. And he is still wheeling and dealing. He has flown
over from the US to talk to his UK employees and to promote another
new venture, the stunning Huntsman Springs holiday resort in the Teton
Valley, close to Jackson's Hole, where he also breeds white buffaloes.
What on earth makes him still going? "You know, I've been working
since I was a young boy. We lived in the most rural part of Idaho
where my father was a teacher; one of those schools where there were
only four teachers to the 12th grade. Life was tough, we had outside
plumbing and no money; I was picking potatoes when I was eight.
"In my teens I worked to help pay for my father's studies at Stanford.
I decided then that I never wanted to depend on anyone or work for
anyone else but to be an entrepreneur. So I've been working and giving
all my life. In Vietnam I gave away some of my pay to families who
had less. It's what I do and giving is part of my Mormon faith."
It all started with the egg. After being funded through university, Mr
Huntsman went to work for his uncle at the egg-producing company Olson
Brothers in Los Angeles. They were losing money because so many eggs
broke during delivery - and that's when he came up with the idea for
polystyrene cartons, setting up a joint venture with Dow Chemical to
develop the science. In 1970 he and his brother set up on their own; he
mortgaged his house and borrowed heavily from the banks. The clamshells
came in 1974, and from there he grew the business aggressively, buying
more than three dozen companies in one decade and taking on even more
debt. At one stage, the company's borrowings were 15 times cash flow.
So you like to gamble, I suggest? "Oh yes, this was pure gambling.
But it was a risk I had to take to grow the company. Only one of the
companies I bought wasn't good."
If risk-taking is like breathing to him, then doing battle is what
he calls his "sport".In 2008, long after he had retired as chief
executive, he took on the private equity group Apollo Management
after it backed out of a deal to buy out Huntsman. He won.
The company is now is run by Peter Huntsman, one of his nine children.
"I spend about half my time here and the rest on charitable work.
Don't tell my shareholders," he says, laughing.
They are unlikely to mind too much: Huntsman stock is trading at new
highs and business is looking up in the US, Europe and UK. "The media
doesn't cover this but Europe is looking much brighter."
So is the UK, where he employs 2,000, having bought ICI Chemicals
in 1999.
Business is booming in the US, but the political situation is bad:
"It's a divided nation. I've never seen the political scene so
polarised. It never used to be like this: Republicans and Democrats
would argue badly but we would always work together. Not any more."
He flirted with a political career after working as chief of staff
to President Nixon in his early thirties, but decided that the cut
and thrust of business was more to his liking than politics - he was
disappointed to discover that Nixon gave nothing to charity. Yet he
likes the company of politicians: the Thatchers were friends and came
to stay in Idaho (the stories he has to tell about Denis and why he
provided gin in the otherwise alcohol- free lodge are hysterical).
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew has also been a visitor.
He doesn't have much time for today's leaders: "President Obama is a
total wreck. The Republicans are deeply divided with a growing number
of extremists. It's time for some damage control but unfortunately
most US politicians are dimwits."
Apart from his son. Jon Huntsman Jnr is a former ambassador to
Singapore and China, and twice governor of Utah, He was a presidential
candidate for the Republicans at the last election. He heads the
Atlantic Council think-tank and co-chairs the No Labels group, a
mix of Democrats, Republicans and independents who want to promote
problem-solving rather than point-scoring.
Only a few days ago Salt Lake City was buzzing with rumours that
Jon Jnr will run again at the next elections. His father won't say:
"I don't know whether Jon will run but I do know he would make a
brilliant president - he's a diplomat, a businessman and he's been
governor twice."
What he did say is this: "If Hillary Clinton runs for president,
she'll win by a landslide. She's very able and competent and Jon knows
her well. Jon would be perfect as Vice-President or maybe Secretary
of State. Now that would be a great combination."
You read it here first.
Day in the life: the personal touch
Jon Huntsman used to get up at 6am, be at the office at 7am and work
until 8pm, but nowadays takes it a little easier, largely due to his
health. No day is the same, but about a third of his time is spent
visiting his businesses around the world and meeting staff. His wife
often comes with him. He also spends a lot of time visiting the cancer
institute and other charities, scholarship students.
He has just finished the book "The Emperor of all Maladies", about
the evolution of cancer. He also likes autobiographies and enjoyed
"The Fourth Star".
Car: Lincoln Navigator
Planes: Two Gulfstream 4SPs. One used for business and one for
humanitarian use - taking cancer patients, church use, etc.
CV
Jon Meade Huntsman
Born: 21 June 1937 in Blackfoot, Idaho.
Education: Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USC
Marshall School of Business.
Career: Olson Brothers. Dolco Packaging Corporation.
Founder and chairman: Hunstman Corporation
Family: Married to Karen, nine children and 56 grandchildren.
Charities: Huntsman Cancer Institute; Aid to Armenia; University
of Utah.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/jon-meade-huntsman-the-carton-king-with-a-big-ambition-to-die-broke-9536598.html