One Idahoan on Forbes’ list of greatest self-made Americans
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IDAHO FALLS — Forbes has created a list of the 250 greatest living self-made Americans and one Idahoan is among them.
Melaleuca founder and Executive Chairman Frank VanderSloot is ranked No. 43 on the list, coming in above actor Arnold Schwarzenegger (50), singer Barbra Streisand (65), actor Sylvester Stallone (185), author Stephen King (231), and entrepreneur Martha Stewart (250).
Forbes evaluated individuals based on how much of their success is self-made, along with entrepreneurial achievement, obstacles overcome, long-term value creation and sustained national impact. The list highlights leaders from a range of industries who have built enduring businesses over time.
“To identify these revolutionaries, we first mined Forbes’ 109-year-deep archive for classic tales of entrepreneurial capitalism. Then we asked our current crop of beat reporters for their ideas,” Forbes said. “We canvassed AI, running hundreds of queries through both ChatGPT and Gemini. While we put a heavy emphasis on rags-to-riches billionaires, we also included pioneering scientists, Supreme Court justices and others whose ‘wealth’ is measured in influence and impact, not just dollar signs.”
EastIdahoNews.com spoke with VanderSloot about his inclusion on the list. Watch our conversation in the video player above.
You can view the entire Forbes list here.