Simplot recovering after fall
BOISE – Elderly billionaire J.R. Simplot, one of Idaho’s wealthiest men, was recovering Tuesday in the intensive care unit of a Phoenix hospital after undergoing surgery for a head injury the elderly billionaire suffered when he fell from a motorized scooter as he was leaving the Fiesta Bowl.
Simplot, who turns 98 on Thursday, is the founder of J.R. Simplot Co., the namesake agribusiness conglomerate that manufactures agricultural, horticultural and turf fertilizers; animal feed and seeds; food products; and industrial chemicals.
Forbes magazine’s 2006 list of the richest Americans estimated the fortune of Simplot and his family at $3.2 billion.
Simplot was resting in the intensive care unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital after undergoing surgery earlier Tuesday, company spokesman Fred Zerza said.
He said Simplot was slowly regaining consciousness after an emergency operation that relieved brain swelling after the fall.
“He does remain in the intensive care unit, but the family is optimistic,” Zerza said.
Following the surgery, Simplot’s vital signs remained normal, Zerza said. He said Simplot had a large bump on his head before the operation and doctors deemed the immediate surgery necessary to relieve pressure.
Simplot was leaving University of Phoenix Stadium after Boise State’s Monday night victory in the Fiesta Bowl when his motorized scooter flipped in the parking lot and Simplot struck his head.
His wife, Esther, and son, Don, drove him to the hospital. He has had heart bypass surgery and a hip replacement in the past but has remained active and healthy, Zerza said.
Simplot is a Boise State season-ticket holder who had joined Idaho’s political and business leaders to watch Boise State defeat Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime.
Born John Richard Simplot in Dubuque, Iowa, he was raised with five siblings on a hardscrabble homestead in Declo in south-central Idaho. In 1923, he left home at age 14 with four $20 gold coins given to him by his mother. He paid $1 a day for room and board at Declo’s only hotel.
Simplot bought an early electric potato sorter and by 1940 had bought or built 33 potato warehouses along the rich Snake River plains from Idaho Falls to Vale, Ore.
Throughout a 60-year career in agriculture, Simplot became known as the quintessential Idaho farmer. He increasingly dominated the state’s business and political landscape for 70 years.
Simplot’s original potato farming company has branched out into numerous other fields, but J.R. Simplot Co. still sells billions of potatoes yearly to fast-food chains.
A former McDonald’s board member, he is known in Idaho’s capital for driving his white Lincoln Town Car with “Mr Spud” vanity plates to the fast-food chain for hash browns or french fries.