William Wallace Cargill

William Wallace Cargill (December 15, 1844 – October 17, 1909) was an American businessman. In 1865, he founded Cargill, which by 2008 was the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue, employing over 150,000 people in 68 countries.

Early life William Wallace Cargill was born on December 15, 1844, in Port Jefferson, New York. He was the third of seven children of Scottish sea captain William Dick Cargill, who had emigrated to New York in the late 1830s. His mother, Edna Davis, was a native of New York. In 1856, Cargill's parents relocated to Janesville, Wisconsin, to pursue an agricultural life.

Career In 1865, William W. Cargill started a small grain-storage business in Conover, Iowa, which eventually grew to become Cargill, Incorporated.

In 1867, he was joined by two of his younger brothers, Sam and Sylvester, in Lime Springs, Iowa, where Cargill built a grain flat house and opened a lumberyard. In 1875, another younger brother, James F. Cargill, joined the company.

Personal life Cargill married Ellen Theresa "Ella" Stowell on October 1, 1868. They had four children together: He was succeeded as president of Cargill by his son-in-law, John H. MacMillan Sr.