#1341

Clayton Mathile

United States 85 years old Self-Made

Overview

In 1970, after ditching his job as an accountant at the Campbell Soup Company, Clayton Mathile became employee number six at pet food maker Iams.

Mathile bought Iams in 1982, when it had $13 million in sales.

He ran the business for 17 years, until P&G acquired it from him in 1999 for $2.3 billion.

In 2008 he spent $130 million to start Aileron, a Dayton-based school that offers management training for small business owners.

Video chat app ooVoo, in which he was a shareholder, shut down in November 2017.

Mathile was born on a farm in Ohio, starred on his high school basketball team and married a cheerleader from a rival school.

When P&G bought Iams for $2.3 billion, Mathile gave his employees $100 million of his cut.

While at Iams, Mathile says he made his first million in 1981.