Voting Station

Forrest Mars, Sr.

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (March 21, 1904-July 1, 1999)
    Born in Wadena, Minnesota
    Son of Mars, Inc., founder Frank C. Mars
    Founded Forrest Mars Food Manufacturing (FMFM) in Great Britain (1933)
    Developed M&Ms (1941)
    Also marketed Uncle Ben's rice (1943) and Pedigree pet food (1957)
    Merged FMFM with Mars, Inc. (1967)
    Worth $4 billion at his death

Why he might be annoying:

    He demanded ownership of a third of Mars, leading to an argument in which he told his father he could stick his business up his ass. (Despite that, his father gave him the foreign rights to the Three Musketeers bar before Forest left America for England.)
    He was a demanding boss with a volatile temper.
    He refused to have a public relations department at Mars and instructed managers to hang up if reporters called.
    His mania for secrecy inspired the nickname 'the Howard Hughes of candy' and quips that it was no mere coincidence that Mars Inc. and the CIA both had their headquarters in McLean, Virginia.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was raised by his grandparents after his parents' divorce.
    He paid employees 10% more than other companies did for comparable jobs.
    A former Mars executive said, 'Forrest has the best management system I've ever come across. It permits decentralization and encourages initiative, but keeps firm control at top.'
    He grew Mars into the world's largest candy company. (Although in the US, it lagged at #2 behind Hershey.)

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying