David H. Murdock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1985, Murdock took over the nearly bankrupt Hawaiian firm Castle & Cooke, which owned pineapple and banana producer Dole Food Company. As a result of his purchase of Castle & Cooke, Murdock acquired ownership of Lana'i, the sixth largest island in Hawaii. He developed Castle & Cooke's real estate portfolio into residential and commercial properties and turned Dole into the world's largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Acquiring Dole privately in 2003, Murdock completed a $446 million initial public offering in October 2009 and the company now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DOLE. Other companies include Pacific Clay.