Austen Stowell Cargill II (born 1951) is an American heir, businessman and rancher.
Biography
Early life
Austen Stowell Cargill II is the great-grandson of William W. Cargill, the founder of Cargill. He has a brother, James R. Cargill II, and a sister, Marianne Cargill Liebmann. He graduated from the University of Minnesota, where he also received a Master’s degree. He went on to receive a doctorate from Oregon State University.
Career
He joined Cargill as a marine biologist and joined its Board of Directors in 1995. He later served as its Vice President until 2001. He also served on the Board of GalaGen, a NASDAQ-traded company that sold dietary supplements to treat gastrointestinal diseases from 1999 to 2002 when it went bankrupt.
Personal life
In 2001, he bought the North Ranch in Paradise Valley, Montana, close to Antelope Butte. The ranch was formerly owned by the Church Universal and Triumphant. He goes ruffed grouse hunting in South Dakota. He lives in Livingston, Montana. He is married, and has two children. As of 2016 he is worth an estimated US$3.7 billion.
Bibliography
- ‘The role of lipids as feeding stimulants for shredding aquatic insects’ (with Kenneth W. Cummins, Boyd J. Hanson and Robert R. Lowry, in Freshwaster Biology, 29 May 2006)
- Austen Cargill II is one of 14 billionaire heirs to Cargill, the family business where he served as a vice president until retiring in 2001.
- His great-grandfather, W.W. Cargill, founded the business as a single grain warehouse on the end of an Iowa railroad line in 1865.
- The family still owns roughly 90% of Cargill, which did $115 billion in 2018 sales across food, agriculture, financial and industrial divisions.
- Before becoming a Cargill executive, Austen earned a Ph.D. and worked as a marine biologist for the company.
Source: