Vincent Marotta

Vincent George Marotta Sr. (February 22, 1924 – August 1, 2015) was an American businessman, investor and philanthropist. He was the co-creator of Mr. Coffee, one of the first automatic drip coffee makers to be introduced to the American consumer market. Marotta, who conceived the idea for the Mr. Coffee machine, developed it with his business partner, Samuel Glazer, to replace the slower, more challenging percolator for use in homes. By 1979, just seven years after its launch, sales of Mr. Coffee accounted for 50% of the U.S. consumer coffee maker market at $150 million. He spent approximately three years "searching for 'a mechanical means of controlling the time and temperature of the water' in a coffeemaker," according to his October 1979 interview with Forbes magazine.

Samuel Glazer, his business partner and the co-developer of Mr. Coffee, died in March 2012.

Vincent Marotta died at his home in Pepper Pike, Ohio, on August 1, 2015, at the age of 91. He was survived by his wife, Ann Laughlin, whom he had married in 1954, and his six children: Mary Marotta, Jane Marotta, Susan Parente, Charles Marotta, Timothy Marotta Sr., and Vincent Marotta Jr.