The last of the citrus barons - Ben Hill Griffin Jr

Nation's Business, Feb, 1989 by Tait Trussell

Griffin's beliefs are not lost on his son, who is quoted in the Fort Myers News-Press as saying: "He has given me the direction, work ethic, and fairness. Those attributes are far superior to financial gain."

Griffin is a colorful man in a field that has had a long and colorful history. Citrus fruits, historians say, originated on the warm southern slopes of the Himalayas in India. Columbus brought the first orange seeds to the New World. Louis XIV hung tapestries of oranges in the palace at Versailles.

Now Florida's citrus production is larger than that of any foreign country. And much of that crop is grown by Ben Hill Griffin Jr.