Frank VanderSloot Net Worth

What is Frank VanderSloot's Net Worth?

Frank VanderSloot is an American entrepreneur, businessman, and political campaign financier who has a net worth of $3.3 billion. Frank is the richest person in Idaho.

Frank VanderSloot is the founder and former CEO of the multi-level marketing company Melaleuca Inc., and his other major business interests include Riverbend Ranch and Riverbend Communications. In politics, he served as a national finance co-chair for Mitt Romney's failed presidential campaigns in both 2008 and 2012.

Early Life and Education

Frank VanderSloot was born on August 14, 1948 in Billings, Montana to Margaret and Peter. The family resided in Sheridan, Wyoming and Hardin, Montana before settling on a ranch in Cocolalla, Idaho in 1949. VanderSloot attended Sandpoint High School, graduating in 1966. While in school, he joined the LDS Church. VanderSloot went on to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, but left after two semesters to serve a mission in the Netherlands. After coming back from the two-and-a-half-year mission, he went to Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, where he obtained an associate's degree in business. VanderSloot then returned to BYU, earning his bachelor's degree in marketing in 1972.

Career Beginnings

Following his graduation from college, VanderSloot worked at Automatic Data Processing for close to a decade. He did stints in three different cities and worked in sales, marketing, and finally general management. After ADP, VanderSloot became regional vice president of Cox Communications in Vancouver, Washington.

Melaleuca

In 1985, VanderSloot joined Oil of Melaleuca, a startup multi-level marketing firm in Idaho Falls operated by his brother Allen and brother-in-law Roger. The firm was questioned by the FDA, and it soon shut down. VanderSloot subsequently founded another multi-level marketing company, Melaleuca Inc., which sells nutritional supplements, personal-care products, and cleaning supplies. He also became its president and CEO. The company became very controversial, and between 1991 and 1997 was investigated by various state and federal government bodies for marketing violations.

Melaleuca has substantial international operations, with a quarter of its revenue coming from places such as Taiwan, Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom. However, the Federal Trade Commission has found that fewer than 0.29% of the company's distributors make any profit at all, and upwards of 99% lose money. Melaleuca is a member of the Direct Selling Association, a US trade association that does PR and political lobbying on behalf of the multi-level marketing industry. VanderSloot served on the association's board of directors from 2008 to 2010.

Other Business Interests

In 1993, VanderSloot founded Riverbend Ranch, a large ranch and commercial cattle operation. The ranch runs a genetics and breeding program and won over 20 awards at the Utah State Fair in the 1990s. Also during the decade, VanderSloot founded the holding company Natural Guardian. He later bought Riverbend Communications, a radio-station network in eastern Idaho, and HighStone, an asphalt construction and maintenance company in Idaho Falls. The latter merged with DePatco in 2011.

Political Activity

VanderSloot has been significantly involved in politics. In 1993, he was a member of the Taxation Task Force of the White House Conference on Small Business, and he later became a member of the board of directors and the executive board of the US Chamber of Commerce. In both 2008 and 2012, VanderSloot served as a national finance co-chair for Mitt Romney's failed presidential campaigns, helping to raise millions of dollars for the candidate. He later donated to the 2016 presidential campaigns of failed Republican candidates Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina.

In addition to supporting Republican presidential candidates, VanderSloot has been a major financial contributor to Republican candidates in Idaho. Opposed to LGBTQ rights, he served as the main financial supporter of an Idaho PAC that helped to ban same-sex marriage in the state in 2006.

Philanthropy

In 2003, VanderSloot founded the private nonprofit Melaleuca Foundation, which has been a financial contributor to the Santa Lucia Children's Home in Quito, Ecuador. Elsewhere, VanderSloot serves as the primary financier of the American Heritage Charter School in Idaho Falls.

Personal Life

VanderSloot was previously married to Kathleen and Vivian. Between them, he had six children. In 1995, VanderSloot married Belinda Boyack, who has eight children from her first marriage. The couple lives in Idaho Falls.

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