Milton Hershey Net Worth

What was Milton Hershey's Net Worth?

Milton Hershey was an American entrepreneur, chocolatier, and philanthropist who had a peak net worth of $60 million in 1918. That's the same as around $1 billion today, after adjusting for inflation. Over several points later in life, Milton donated all of his wealth to charity. More details on this later in the article.

Milton Hershey founded the Hershey Chocolate Company and transformed milk chocolate from a costly specialty into an affordable product sold throughout the United States.

Hershey endured several failed businesses before creating the Lancaster Caramel Company, which he sold for $1 million in 1900. He used the proceeds to concentrate on chocolate manufacturing, constructing an enormous factory in rural Pennsylvania near dairy farms that could supply fresh milk.

Around the factory, Hershey developed the community that became Hershey, Pennsylvania. He financed housing, schools, transportation, utilities, recreational facilities, and public spaces. His best-known products included the Hershey bar and Hershey's Kisses.

Hershey and his wife, Catherine, had no children. In 1909, they established a residential school for orphaned boys. In 1918, Hershey transferred his ownership of the chocolate company, then valued at approximately $60 million, to the school trust. The institution eventually became the Milton Hershey School and developed one of the largest educational endowments in the United States.

Early Life

Milton Snavely Hershey was born on September 13, 1857, in Derry Township, Pennsylvania. His parents, Henry and Fanny Hershey, came from Pennsylvania German Mennonite families.

Hershey's father was intelligent and ambitious but frequently pursued unsuccessful business ideas. The family's repeated moves disrupted Milton's education, which ended after approximately the fourth grade.

At 14, Hershey was apprenticed to a German-language newspaper printer. He disliked the work and was dismissed after dropping a tray of type. His mother then arranged an apprenticeship with Lancaster confectioner Joseph Royer.

Hershey spent four years learning to make candy, ice cream, and other sweets. The experience gave him the practical training on which he built his career.

Early Business Failures

In 1876, Hershey opened a candy shop in Philadelphia. He worked long hours and sold caramels, taffy, nuts, and other treats, but the business failed after several years.

Hershey traveled west and found work with a confectioner in Denver. There he learned that fresh milk could produce a softer, longer-lasting caramel. He subsequently attempted businesses in Chicago and New Orleans before opening another shop in New York City.

The New York business also failed. Hershey returned to Lancaster in his late 20s with little money and several relatives convinced that he lacked the temperament to succeed.

Lancaster Caramel Company

Hershey began making caramels using the fresh-milk method he had learned in Denver. A British importer sampled his products and placed a large order, giving Hershey the credibility he needed to obtain financing.

The Lancaster Caramel Company grew rapidly. Hershey opened factories in Lancaster and other cities, employed more than 1,000 workers, and exported candy to Europe.

During the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Hershey saw German chocolate-making machinery. He purchased equipment and began producing chocolate coatings for his caramels.

Hershey became convinced that chocolate had greater potential than caramel. In 1900, he sold the Lancaster Caramel Company for $1 million and retained the developing chocolate operation.

The Hershey Chocolate Company

Milk chocolate was difficult to produce consistently and remained relatively expensive. Hershey and his employees spent years developing a formula suitable for mass manufacturing.

The first Hershey milk chocolate bars reached the market in 1900. Hershey's Kisses followed in 1907, and the milk chocolate bar with almonds was introduced in 1908.

Hershey selected Derry Township for his factory because the area offered dairy farms, clean water, inexpensive land, and access to railroads. The factory began operating in 1905 and became one of the world's largest chocolate-manufacturing plants.

By combining mass production, national distribution, and relatively low prices, Hershey helped make chocolate an everyday American product rather than a luxury.

Public Domain

Hershey, Pennsylvania

Hershey did not want his factory surrounded by a conventional industrial settlement. He planned a community with wide streets, single-family houses, schools, churches, parks, public transportation, and cultural facilities.

The town eventually included an amusement park, a theater, a convention hall, a zoo, a hotel, a golf course, and community recreation facilities. Hershey's companies also provided electricity, telephone service, water, and public transit.

During the Great Depression, Hershey launched an ambitious building program to keep local residents employed. Major projects included the Hotel Hershey, the Hershey Theatre, the Hershey Sports Arena, and a new community building.

Milton Hershey School

Milton and Catherine Hershey were unable to have children. In 1909, they created the Hershey Industrial School for orphaned boys and transferred farmland and other assets to support it.

Catherine died in 1915 after years of illness. Three years later, Hershey transferred nearly all of his Hershey Chocolate Company stock to the school trust. The gift was valued at approximately $60 million at the time but was not publicly revealed until several years later.

The trust retained voting control of the company and used its income to support the school. Admission later expanded beyond orphaned boys, and the institution was renamed the Milton Hershey School. It provides housing, education, health care, meals, and career preparation to children from lower-income families.

Cuba and Other Ventures

Hershey invested heavily in Cuban sugar production after World War I. He constructed mills, railroads, housing, schools, and utilities around a settlement known as Central Hershey.

Falling sugar prices eventually caused significant losses, and Hershey sold most of his Cuban interests during the 1940s.

Milton and Catherine had booked passage on the maiden voyage of the "Titanic" in 1912. A change in travel plans led them to sail earlier on another ship, avoiding the disaster.

Personal Life and Estate

Hershey married Catherine Sweeney in 1898. Their marriage lasted until her death in 1915, and he never remarried.

Despite his enormous business success, Hershey lived less extravagantly than many industrialists of his era. His principal residence, High Point Mansion, overlooked the factory and community.

Hershey died on October 13, 1945, at the age of 88. Although he had transferred the bulk of his fortune to the school trust in 1918, he accumulated additional assets during the remainder of his life. His estate was valued at nearly $900,000 and was placed into another trust benefiting the public schools of Derry Township.

His name remains attached not only to a global chocolate company but also to a town, a medical center, charitable foundations, entertainment businesses, and a school supported by the fortune he relinquished during his lifetime.

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