Slim-Fast billionaire S. Daniel Abraham dead at – Business News
S. Daniel Abraham, the entrepreneur who turned a line of meal-replacement shakes into the weight-loss powerhouse Slim-Fast, has died at the age of 100.
His death on June 29 was confirmed by American Friends of Bar-Ilan University, the place he had served on the board, in accordance with Bloomberg News.
Abraham, whose web value was estimated at $2.4 billion by Forbes, made his fortune after introducing the powder-based diet product in 1977.
S. Daniel Abraham, the entrepreneur who turned a line of meal-replacement shakes into the weight-loss powerhouse Slim-Fast, has died. He was 100. ASSOCIATED PRESS
SlimFast, combined with low-fat milk, was marketed as a meal substitute and shortly gained recognition, thanks partly to endorsements from public figures like former New York City Mayor Ed Koch and Major League Baseball supervisor Tommy Lasorda.
“It’s your life. Feed it right,” the company’s slogan learn. Another marketing campaign promised, “Give us a week, we’ll take off the weight.”
The product line nonetheless exists as we speak underneath the identify SlimFast, although it has struggled lately amid the rise of pharmaceutical weight-loss medication.
Abraham was additionally a vital political donor and philanthropist. He co-founded the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace in 1989 and was a main supporter of the Democratic Party.
A 2020 report by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies ranked him because the fifteenth most lively political donor amongst American billionaires, with almost $22 million in contributions to federal candidates and political teams, virtually fully to Democrats.
Born on Aug. 15, 1924, in Long Beach, NY, Abraham served within the US Army during World War II.
Abraham turned a billionaire due to the success of Slim-Fast meal-replacement shakes. Adriana – stock.adobe.com
He started his business profession within the Nineteen Forties by becoming a member of his father in promoting over-the-counter remedies comparable to itch relievers and throat soothers. Together together with his father, he acquired Thompson Medical Co., the maker of the anti-itch ointment San-Cura.
Abraham took the company public in 1979 and later took it personal again within the late Nineteen Eighties.
“I knew these products worked, and, just as important, I knew that these maladies were so common that they would generate repeat sales,” he wrote in his memoir.
Abraham was a prolific donor to the Democratic Party. He was additionally close to Bill and Hillary Clinton. AP
Before Slim-Fast, Abraham had success with Dexatrim, an urge for food suppressant that reached $50 million in gross sales in 1979.
The product later got here underneath scrutiny when the FDA raised health issues in 2000 about its key ingredient, phenylpropanolamine, which has been related to elevated risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
By that time, Dexatrim was owned by Chattem Inc., which modified the system. NVE Pharmaceuticals acquired the product in 2014.
The idea behind Slim-Fast emerged from the Nineteen Seventies trend favoring high-protein shakes over stable food. Abraham marketed it as a full program whereby customers would drink Slim-Fast for breakfast, lunch and a snack, after which eat a “sensible” dinner, for a every day whole of 1,500 energy.
Abraham additionally maintained high-level contacts within the Middle East. He is seen left with Palestinian chief Yasser Arafat. AFP by way of Getty Images
In the Nineteen Nineties, he expanded the Slim-Fast model to incorporate frozen entrees, snacks and different diet merchandise. Sales grew roughly 20% yearly, reaching $611 million in 1999 with $125 million in revenue.
The model’s profile skyrocketed in 1989 when Dodgers gamers Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson challenged their supervisor, Tommy Lasorda, to lose weight for charity.
Abraham supplied Lasorda $20,000 for his chosen charity simply to fulfill and focus on utilizing Slim-Fast. Lasorda took on the problem with the high-fiber model, Ultra Slim-Fast, and misplaced more than 30 kilos in three months.
He turned a tv spokesman, famously declaring, “If I can do it, you can do it.”
Sales tripled to $300 million virtually in a single day.
In 2000, Unilever acquired Slim-Fast Foods for $2.3 billion. However, underneath Unilever’s possession, US gross sales declined 40% between 2009 and 2013, in accordance with SymphonyIRI Group.
In a 2013 Consumer Reports rating, Slim-Fast positioned final in total satisfaction amongst do-it-yourself diet plans.
Abraham expressed frustration with the model’s decline, telling Bloomberg News in 2013: “Unilever is sleeping on it. If I still owned it, it would not be that way. I would be fighting harder. It’s a damn shame.”
At the time, Unilever said that investments and “exciting changes” had been deliberate for the product.
Kainos Capital purchased the model from Unilever in 2014 for an undisclosed quantity, with Unilever retaining a minority stake. In 2018, Kainos offered Slim-Fast to Ireland-based Glanbia Plc for $350 million. Glanbia put the model up for sale again in February.
Abraham had 4 daughters together with his first spouse, Estanne, earlier than their marriage led to divorce. He later married Ewa, with whom he had a son and a daughter.
