--- title: America's Richest Cheesemonger Is a Reclusive Colorado Man Worth $3 Billion description: James Leprino, 79, is America's successful cheese entrepreneur. He is worth $3 billion, and his company makes cheese for Pizza Hut, Domino's, and Papa John's. authors: - name: Rob Wile url: https://money.com/author/rob-wile/ at_money_since: 2017 articles: 191 covers: - Business - Career Advice - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/rjwile former_staff: true published: '2017-05-24T17:22:10.000Z' modified: '2017-05-24T17:22:10.000Z' section: Business tags: - Cheese - Entrepreneurs - Pizza - rich - Wealth word_count: 225 canonical: https://money.com/billionaire-cheese-maker-leprino-pizza-hut/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Full Frame Shot Of Shredded Cheese On Pizza Bread](https://img.money.com/2017/05/pizzacheesebillionaire-em-566376339.jpg) If you've had a pizza from Pizza Hut, Domino's, or Papa John's in the past 25-odd years, you have been eating the fruits of James Leprino's labor. Leprino, 79, is the most successful cheese entrepreneur America has ever seen. His [Leprino Foods](http://www.leprinofoods.com/) sells more than a billion pounds of cheese a year at about $3 billion in revenue, [according to Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2017/05/23/james-leprino-exclusive-mozzarella-billionaire-cheese-pizza-hut-dominos-papa-johns/#5ff3ebaa4958), which tracked down the reclusive mogul to his Denver office. Forbes estimates his net worth at approximately $3 billion. "Jim Leprino is a very powerful man," one anonymous cheese entrepreneur said to Forbes, ominously and without elaborating. Leprino has at times controlled 85% of the market for pizza cheese. His focus on price and competition has yielded more than 50 patents —and an estimated 7% net margin, which dwarfs the dairy-industry average, Forbes reports. But the elusive, highly private Leprino refuses to even be photographed. He is Catholic, and reportedly goes to church every Sunday and donates to charities anonymously. Forbes reports that Leprino and other executives personally taste the company's cheeses once a week, but Leprino says he tries to maintain a relatively hands-off approach to managing operations. "I support what's going on, but I don't try to lead it," he says. "My job is to hold them responsible for doing what they said they're going to do." [Read the full story here.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2017/05/23/james-leprino-exclusive-mozzarella-billionaire-cheese-pizza-hut-dominos-papa-johns/#5ff3ebaa4958) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/billionaire-cheese-maker-leprino-pizza-hut/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Business", "item": "https://money.com/business/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Entrepreneurship", "item": "https://money.com/entrepreneurship/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "America's Richest Cheesemonger Is a Reclusive Colorado Man Worth $3 Billion" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/billionaire-cheese-maker-leprino-pizza-hut/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/billionaire-cheese-maker-leprino-pizza-hut/", "name": "America's Richest Cheesemonger Is a Reclusive Colorado Man Worth $3 Billion", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2017-05-24T17:22:10.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/billionaire-cheese-maker-leprino-pizza-hut/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/billionaire-cheese-maker-leprino-pizza-hut/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2017-05-24T17:22:10.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "America's Richest Cheesemonger Is a Reclusive Colorado Man Worth $3 Billion", "articleSection": "Business", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/05/pizzacheesebillionaire-em-566376339.jpg", "width": 2048, "height": 1536, "caption": "Full Frame Shot Of Shredded Cheese On Pizza Bread" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rob Wile", "url": "https://money.com/author/rob-wile/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/rob-wile/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/rjwile" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2017-05-24T17:22:10.000Z", "description": "James Leprino, 79, is America's successful cheese entrepreneur. 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