Jim Leprino, The Billionaire Behind the World’s Largest Mozzarella Cheese Company, Passes Away

The man behind the biggest mozzarella cheese company in the world, James “Jim” Leprino, has passed away at the age of 87.

Leprino Foods, the company he founded, supplies cheese to the largest pizza chains, including Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Papa John’s. The son of an Italian immigrant, Jim Leprino was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1937. Jim’s father, Mike Sr., opened a small family-run grocery store in 1950 at the corner of 38th & Shoshone Street in Denver. The family started making different varieties of cheeses in the back of the store to serve their customers better.

According to his biography on Leprino’s website, that venture grew, and in 1956, Jim Leprino joined the business full-time. From there, that small neighborhood shop grew to become Leprino Foods, the largest producer of mozzarella cheese and a global leader in dairy ingredients.

Leprino Foods employs over 5,500 people worldwide, including the state-of-the-art cheese plants in Fort Morgan and Greeley. Its global headquarters is in Denver, and its Denver offices are located on the same corner where the Leprino family started selling its hand-crafted cheese 75 years ago.

No funeral arrangements have been announced at this time. Jim Leprino is survived by his wife, two daughters, two granddaughters, as well as one great-granddaughter.