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Obituary

Maersk Mc-Kinney Moeller dies after “long and eventful life”

April 16, 2012

Shipping tycoon Arnold Maersk Mc-Kinney Moeller, who ran the Danish business his father founded for almost 40 years, died on 16 April aged 98.

Shipping tycoon Arnold Maersk Mc-Kinney Moeller, who ran the Danish business his father founded for almost 40 years, died on 16 April aged 98.

Moeller passed away in his sleep, after being admitted to hospital last week, according to reports.

A statement from the family business said: “Will and energy characterised Maersk Mc-Kinney Moeller's endeavours.”

Porsche family member and 911 designer dies

April 10, 2012

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the grandson of the eponymous family business's founder and the designer of the iconic Porsche 911, died on 5 April in Salzburg, Austria aged 76.

He was the honorary president of the German car manufacturer’s supervisory board.

Born in 1935, Ferdinand was the oldest son of Dorothea and Ferry Porsche, and the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche Sr, who established the automaker in 1931.

Former head of publishing family business Cowles Media dies

March 20, 2012

John Cowles Jr, who headed the eponymous media and publishing company when it was under family control, died on March 17 aged 82 from lung cancer.

Minneapolis-based Cowles Media Company, which was sold by the family in the late 1990s, published newspapers such as the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Cowles took over from his father, also named John, in 1961 as the editor of the family business’s flagship newspaper, becoming president and chief executive of the company in 1968.

“Remarkable” Canadian family businessman dies

February 22, 2012

John Jodrey, the “remarkable businessman" who led Canadian family firm Scotia Investments for over 15 years, died on 19 February aged 98.

Jodrey was a former director and president of the Nova Scotia-based business, which controls a number of Canadian companies, including packaging group Maritime Paper Products and floral business Avon Valley.

Head of candy-making family business dies

February 11, 2012

Nello Ferrara, who took over the American candy-making family business founded by his father, died on 3 February aged 93.

Ferrara was chairman of Chicago-based Ferrara Pan Candy Company, the business he first joined in the 1950s. This was following a degree in law and a four-year stint in the US army – he was a member of the Counterintelligence Corps from 1942 until 1946.

Former head of publishing family business dies

February 10, 2012

John Sargent, who led the expansion of Doubleday & Company from a small family business to a publishing giant, died on 5 February aged 87.

Sargent worked at the American group, which was a family business until it was sold in 1986, for more than 40 years. He began as a copywriter for a group publication before gradually climbing up the ranks.

Head of electronic equipment family business dies

January 25, 2012

Jerry Throgmartin, who was the executive chairman of electronic appliance family business HH Gregg, died on Sunday, 22 January at the age of 57.

The American retail company did not give the cause of death, but according to the Indianapolis Star, a local newspaper, he died of meningitis.

American trucking and logistics icon dies

January 16, 2012

Donald Schneider, former president and chief executive of trucking family business Schneider National, died on 13 January aged 76.

Schneider, who joined the American transportation company while in high school, had Alzheimer’s disease, according to a statement.

Gallup founder’s son dies

November 28, 2011

George Gallup Jr, the son of Gallup Organisation founder George Gallup, died on 21 November at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, at the age of 81.

Gallup, who was diagnosed with liver cancer a year ago, joined the family business as an executive in 1954 and is often credited with expanding the company’s surveys into religion, a topic he was particularly interested in, as he initially planned on becoming an Episcopal priest.

Cargill family business heir dies

November 17, 2011

Cargill MacMillan Jr, the billionaire heir to the Cargill family fortune, died on 14 November at his home in Indian Wells, California, at the age of 84.

The great-grandson of the founder of the eponymous company, which is today the world’s largest agricultural commodities trader, MacMillian began at the family business in 1950 as a trainee. He later held various positions across the group’s offices before moving to California.