He fired his own father from the Whole Foods board
At 40, Mackey told his 72-year-old dad to leave so he could keep expanding, and the remaining shares soon made it all back.
David Senra · My Conversation with John Mackey, co-founder of Whole Foods Market | David SenraWhen John Mackey was 40, he asked his 72-year-old father to leave the board of Whole Foods Market, the natural foods grocery chain he had co-founded. They had been fighting over growth, and Mackey did not want the fighting to ruin them.
Mackey called firing his father "the most difficult thing I ever did." It was also the break that let him run the company his own way. Within a year, the stock price doubled, and the shares his father kept were worth more than the larger stake had been before.
His father had been a central guide. A child of the Great Depression who was 20 when Pearl Harbor was attacked, he worried another depression could come at any time. After Whole Foods first sold shares to the public, he urged Mackey to keep selling stock, and Mackey said he trusted his dad and sold. Mackey later regretted it because he missed the compounding as the company grew.
Mackey said he thought his father "made more money from Whole Foods than he did in his other business." Before the break, Mackey said he pretty much did whatever his father suggested. He argued with him but often caved in, out of love and respect, even though his father wanted the company to be more cautious and Mackey wanted to expand.
Mackey remembers telling him, "Dad, I'm 40 years old. I'm going to make these decisions now." He remembers explaining that he wanted his father off the board because "I don't want us to be fighting. It's tearing our relationship apart."
His father answered, "Son, you think 40 is pretty old, don't you?" When Mackey said yes, his father said, "It's nothing," and added, "You've barely got your nose under the tent."
Mackey said the Alzheimer's "was diagnosed a couple of years later," and he did not know about it at the time. He described the firing as the end of his mentorship, the point when he stopped caving in to his father's wishes and stood on his own. A few years later, even as the disease tightened its grip, his father told him he had made the right decision, said he was proud of him, and the two were back on good terms.
Questions people ask
What does it mean that Whole Foods went public?
An initial public offering is when a private company first sells shares to outside investors on a stock market. It raises money for growth, but it also brings in new shareholders and public reporting rules.
Why was Mackey's father on the board in the first place?
Early small companies often put trusted family members and backers on the board because they give advice and lend credibility with investors. The board votes on major decisions, including strategy, executive pay, and financings.
What is Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer's is a brain disease that slowly harms memory, thinking, and judgment. It often begins with subtle changes, like becoming more cautious or confused, years before a formal diagnosis.