Frank L. VanderSloot
Frank L. VanderSloot is the CEO of Melaleuca, Inc. headquartered in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
VanderSloot was born on August 14, 1948, in Billings, Montana, and lived in Cocolalla, Idaho, where the family lived on a ranch. He was baptized a member of [http://comeuntochrist.org The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the age of 16. After two semesters of college at Brigham Young University he served as a missionary in the Netherlands for the Church. He received an associate’s degree in business from Ricks College and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from BYU.
For almost ten years following his graduation, he worked for Automatic Data Processing, rising from sales and marketing to general management and operations. He then became regional vice president at Cox Communications in Vancouver, Washington.
In September 1985, VanderSloot’s brother-in-law Roger Ball and Ball’s brother Allen offered VanderSloot management of Oil of Melaleuca, Inc., a startup multilevel marketing business based in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Partners shut the company down a few months later when it did not achieve significant market share. VanderSloot then founded the multi-level marketing company Melaleuca, Inc, which sells nutritional supplements, cleaning supplies, and personal-care products. Part of the company’s revenue comes from its international sales.
VanderSloot’s other business ventures include Riverbend Ranch, which he founded in 1993. The ranch operates in three other states and is one of the largest purebred ranches and commercial cattle operations in the United States.
In 1994, he created Natural Guardian Limited Partnership, a holding company that owns or leases approximately 1,500 acres of land in Wolverine Canyon, Bingham County, Idaho.
Also in 1994, he bought an interest in the Snake River Cheese factory in Blackfoot, Idaho, when two dairy farmers asked him to invest after Kraft Foods had announced they would close it. In 1995, he sold his interest in the company to Suprema Specialties.
In 2006, VanderSloot bought a group of radio stations in Eastern Idaho from Bonneville Communications. Riverbend Communications operates KLCE Classy 97, KCVI Kbear 101, KTHK 105.5 The Hawk, KFTZ Z103, KEII News-Talk AM 690–1260, and KNBL AM 1260.
At one time VanderSloot was the owner of HighStone, an Idaho Falls–based asphalt construction and maintenance company. The company merged with DePatco in September 2011. VanderSloot served as national finance co-chair for Mitt Romney’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. He has also been a major donor to Idaho Republicans. In 2011, the Land Report listed him as the nation's 92nd largest landowner. In 2017, Forbes listed VanderSloot as the richest person in Idaho and the 302nd wealthiest American with a net worth of $2.7 billion. He is the primary financier of the American Heritage Charter School in Idaho Falls. He also serves on the board of directors and executive board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In 1993, VanderSloot served on the Taxation Task Force of the White House Conference on Small Business. In 2003 he founded the Melaleuca Foundation, which is a contributor to the Santa Lucia Children’s Home in Quito, Ecuador. In 2007 the foundation received the Salvation Army Others Award for helping with relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina. He has received several awards including the Horatio Alger Award and became a lifetime member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans (in 2015).
VanderSloot has been outspoken about his defense of traditional marriage. In 2013 he stated that he supports equal rights for the gay community but believes that the definition of marriage is a union between a man and a woman.
He lives in Idaho Falls with his wife Belinda. Together they have fourteen children, six of which come from his two prior marriages.
