Harry Stine (businessman)

Harry H. Stine (born 1941/1942) is an American billionaire businessman, the founder and owner of Stine Seed.

Harry Stine
Born	1941 or 1942 (age 81–82)^[1]
Nationality	American
Alma mater	McPherson College
Occupation(s)	Farmer and seedsman
Known for	Founder and owner of Stine Seed Owner of International Oilseed Distributors, Inc.
Spouse	Molly^[2]
Children	4^[3]
Website	www.stineseed.com/about/company-leadership/harry-h-stine/

Family and early life

He is the son of Bill and Roselba Stine. In 1871, his great-grandparents, William and Sarah Stine arrived in Adel, Iowa, from Pennsylvania, and established a 160-acre farm there. In 1894, his grandfather Ira Cloyd Stine married Lydia Sheaffer and they had had four children, all sons. Everyone worked for I.C Stine and Sons until after World War II. In 1934, Bill and Roselba Stine moved to the 200-acre farm that would become Stine Seed Farm, which was founded in the 1950s.^[4][5]

Career

He made his fortune licensing soybean and corn genetics to Syngenta, Monsanto, and other agribusiness giants.^[6][7]

He is Iowa's richest man and as of 2020, the state's only billionaire.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Owning nearly 15,000 acres of land in Iowa through his private ownership of Stine Seed,^[12]

In 2018, he was listed as the wealthiest in Iowa with a net worth of $3.2 billion by Forbes.^[13] In 2019, he increased his fortune by $1.8 billion to $5 billion ranking him the richest Iowan and #131 richest in the United States by Forbes.^[7][14] In 2020, his net worth was estimated at $5.7 billion ranking him the richest Iowan and #484 richest in the world by Forbes.^[14][15]

Politics

As a registered Republican, he did not support Donald Trump during 2020 elections but favored Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses.^[16]

References

1. "Forbes profile: Harry Stine". Forbes. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
2. "HARRY STINE HONORED FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO AGRICULTURE BY IOWA FARM BUREAU FEDERATION". Retrieved 2021-12-11.
3. Begemann, Sonja (July 3, 2019). Meet Harry Stine, Father of the Modern Soybean. Farm Journal magazine. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
4. "History". stineseed. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
5. "Stine - 30 Years of Performance Seed - The Early Years". Nxtbook.com. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
6. Copeland, Dave (October 24, 2018). The Richest Person in Every State (see slide #15 of 50). Work+Money website. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
7. Jett, Tyler (October 2, 2019). Iowan climbs higher on list of the richest Americans. The Des Moines Register. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
8. WHO TV staff (August 1, 2014). Map Reveals Wealthiest Person in Each State . WHO TV. Des Moines, Iowa. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
9. Patane, Matthew (May 25, 2016). And the richest man in Iowa is .... The Des Moines Register. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
10. Lee, Allen (September 1, 2020). Who Is The Richest Person in Iowa? moneyinc.com website. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
11. lovemoney staff (July 17, 2020). The richest family in every state: Iowa: the Stine family – $3.8 billion (see slide #16). MSN news. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
12. Morrell, Alex (April 14, 2014). Can This Man Feed the World? Billionaire Harry Stine's Quest to Reinvent Agriculture -- Again. Forbes. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
13. Hardy, Kevin (May 21, 2018). The richest person in Iowa is a self-made billionaire. The Des Moines Register. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
14. Harry Stine. Forbes. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
15. Jett, Tyler (July 20, 2020). Iowa's richest man, lawyers and private schools land Paycheck Protection Program funds. The Des Moines Register. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
16. Green, Joshua (February 14, 2019). The Only Billionaire In Iowa Thinks Elizabeth Warren Makes Some Sense: Harry Stine, founder of Stine Seed Co, is a registered Republican but no fan of Trump’s. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved September 5, 2020.