David Murdock obit

North Carolina businessman David Murdock dies at 102

The titan of industry once owned Kannapolis and divided opinion across the region

 

He was not on the list.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - American businessman David Murdock has passed away at the age of 102 years-old.

Murdock had a monumental impact in North Carolina after investing heavily in the region. He also divided opinion as residents in Kannapolis and Cabarrus County often think the mogul didn’t see through his biggest plans for the area.

When Murdock bought Cannon Mills he owned a vast amount of the property in the City of Kannapolis. Murdock bought the City of Kannapolis from Cannon Mills in the 1980s before selling the company’s mills off to another company in the 2000’s. He repurchased the mills and eventually started work on a research campus in 2006.

There were strides toward success for the North Carolina Research Campus, but the growth was far below the original projections for over a decade.

Today, the David H Murdock Research Institute is a major party of the community and an integral piece of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

“We regret to hear the announcement of his passing,” RCCC President Dr. Carol Spalding told WBTV.

“The research campus has been a huge boon to North Carolina and Kannapolis and it has been immensely helpful to Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.”

Murdock once owned the Dole Food Company and later Castle & Cooke.

Dr. Cory Brouwer leads UNC Charlotte’s operations at the research campus and says the investment by Murdock ultimately turned around Kannapolis.

“Here he took something that was a major disappointment and tragedy for so many families with the closing of the mill and turned it around to be something that was at the heart of the city and a thriving downtown,” Dr. Brouwer said.

Dr. Brouwer also said Murdock’s foresight to open a research campus focusing on nutrition well before it was a popular topic made a massive impact on the field.

The City of Kannapolis released the following statement:

The City of Kannapolis sends its condolences to the family of Mr. David Murdock and his staff at Castle & Cooke. Mr. Murdock’s investment in the North Carolina Research Campus was pivotal to the City’s revitalization. The research, led by Duke, UNC-CH, UNCC, ASU, NC A&T, NC Central, NCSU, and UNCG, in the fields of health, nutrition, exercise continues to make a significant difference both in North Carolina and across the United States. Mr. Murdock’s legacy of having eight universities in one location focused on these targeted scientific fields has been important in the understanding of how foods and exercise impact everyone.

He grew up in Montgomery Township, Ohio, and dropped out of high school in the 9th grade. He was drafted by the United States Army in 1943 during World War II.

Upon relocating to Detroit after the war, Murdock was homeless and destitute. Due to a chance encounter with a good samaritan, he obtained a $1,200 loan to buy a closing diner, flipping it for a $700 profit ten months later. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and began working there, first in housing and then commercial real estate.

When the real estate market collapsed in the 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles where he continued developing real estate opportunities, leading to a string of acquisitions. In 1978 he acquired control of International Mining. He became the largest shareholder in L.A.-based Occidental Petroleum, by selling the corporation his 18% share of the Iowa Beef Packers company for $800 million worth of Occidental stock in May 1981 with support from Armand Hammer: after this acquisition, Occidental, through its ownership of IBP and with support from Leonid Kostandov, became the largest United States supplier of beef to the Soviet Union.

In 1985 Murdock took over the nearly bankrupt Hawaiian firm Castle & Cooke, which owned pineapple and banana producer Dole Food Company. He developed Castle & Cooke's real estate portfolio into residential and commercial properties and turned Dole into the world's largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Acquiring Dole privately in 2003, Murdock completed a $446 million initial public offering in October 2009 and the company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DOLE until a private merger agreement was approved October 31, 2013. As a result of his purchase of Castle & Cooke, Murdock acquired ownership of 98% of Lanai, the sixth-largest island in Hawaii. In June 2012 Murdock sold his interest in Lanai to Larry Ellison. He owned other companies, including Pacific Clay.