How the Late Bob’s Red Mill Founder Avoided Selling out to a Food Giant and Instead Transferred Ownership to His 700 Employees

Bob Moore, the founder of Bob’s Red Mill, who died on Saturday, set up a unique ownership model for his natural food company.

Rather than sell out to a food giant, he transferred full ownership to his employees — more than 700 of them.

“Bob’s passion, ingenuity, and respect for others will forever inspire the employee-owners of Bob’s Red Mill, and we will carry on his legacy by bringing wholesome foods to people around the world,” the company said in an Instagram post announcing his death. “We will truly miss his energy and larger-than-life personality.”

Moore, who was 94 when he died, founded Bob’s Red Mill with his wife, Charlee, in Oregon in 1978. In the decades that followed, the couple grew their whole-grain food company into a global empire that did more than $100 million annually, selling over 200 products in more than 70 countries.