You probably have a Twix or a bag of M&Ms in your pantry right now. Most people do. But if you’d walked into the corporate headquarters in McLean, Virginia, while Forrest Edward Mars Jr. was running the show, you wouldn’t have found a mahogany-paneled corner office or a fleet of assistants buffering the boss from the "commoners." No. You would have found a billionaire sitting at a desk identical to the junior copywriter’s, punching a time clock like everyone else.
He was intense.
Forrest Jr. didn’t just run a candy company; he curated a culture of secrecy, quality, and extreme punctuality that turned Mars, Incorporated into a global powerhouse. When he passed away in 2016 at the age of 84, he left behind a legacy that is often misunderstood by the public because, frankly, he hated the spotlight. He didn’t do interviews. He didn't write memoirs. He just worked.
The Man Who Preferred Shadow to Spotlight
It’s kinda wild to think that one of the richest men in American history was almost entirely unknown to the average consumer. Along with his siblings, John and Jacqueline, Forrest Jr. inherited a business that was already successful, but he was the one who truly pushed the boundaries of what a family-owned enterprise could achieve.
He lived by a code. It wasn't just some corporate mission statement printed on a breakroom poster. It was the "Five Principles": Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom. To Forrest, "Freedom" meant staying private. By keeping the company out of the stock market, he didn’t have to answer to Wall Street analysts or quarterly earnings reports. He only had to answer to his own standards, which were, by all accounts, terrifyingly high.
If a batch of M&Ms had the "m" printed slightly off-center? Reject it. If a factory floor wasn't clean enough to eat off of? Fix it. He was known to fly halfway across the world to inspect a single plant, and if he found a speck of dust, everyone heard about it.
Why the Secrecy Mattered
Why was he so obsessed with privacy? It wasn’t just paranoia. It was a strategic advantage. In the cutthroat world of consumer packaged goods, where Hershey and Nestlé are constantly looking for an edge, Mars functioned like a silent submarine.
They developed technology in-house. They built their own machines. By the time the competition realized Mars was moving into a new market—like pet care or rice—the infrastructure was already unshakeable. Forrest Jr. understood that fame is a distraction. While other CEOs were busy being "thought leaders" on magazine covers, he was figuring out how to make Snickers the best-selling candy bar in the world.
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Expanding the Galaxy: Beyond the Chocolate Bar
Most folks think Mars is just chocolate. That’s a mistake. Under Forrest Jr.’s watch, the company diversified in ways that seemed risky at the time but turned out to be strokes of genius.
Think about your dog.
Mars is actually the largest pet care provider on the planet. Forrest saw the "humanization of pets" trend decades before it became a buzzword. He pushed for the acquisition of brands like Royal Canin and the expansion of Pedigree and Whiskas. He realized that while people might cut back on candy during a recession, they will always feed their pets. Today, the pet care division often outpaces the chocolate division in revenue. It's a massive, multi-billion dollar pillar of the company that Forrest helped cement.
Then there’s Uncle Ben’s (now Ben's Original).
He pushed for global expansion in the food segment, ensuring that Mars products were staples in kitchens from London to Moscow. His vision was truly global. He didn't want Mars to be an American company that sold things abroad; he wanted it to be a local company in every country where it operated.
The Russian Gamble
After the Berlin Wall fell, Forrest Jr. didn't wait for things to "stabilize." He went in.
He saw the untapped potential of the former Soviet Union and moved aggressively to establish a presence there. It was a massive gamble. Logistics were a nightmare. The economy was a mess. But he believed in the long game. Because of that early entry, Mars became a dominant player in Eastern Europe, a position they held for decades. He had this weirdly effective mix of extreme caution regarding the company's internal workings and extreme boldness regarding external growth.
The "Mars Way" of Management
If you worked for Forrest Jr., you got a 10% bonus just for showing up on time. Every day.
He hated bureaucracy. He hated titles. At the McLean headquarters, there were no private offices. Everyone, including Forrest, sat in an open-plan space. The idea was that if a problem arose, you shouldn't have to schedule a meeting two weeks out to talk to the person who could fix it. You just walked over to their desk.
- Punctuality was non-negotiable. If you were late for a meeting, the door was locked. Didn't matter who you were.
- Quality was a religion. He once famously ordered a massive shipment of candy to be destroyed because the packaging wasn't up to his standards, even though the candy itself was perfect.
- Frugality. Despite his billions, he traveled coach for years and expected his executives to do the same. He believed every dollar spent on a first-class ticket was a dollar not spent on improving the product.
This sounds intense because it was. But it created a level of loyalty that is rare today. People stayed at Mars for 30, 40 years. They felt like they were part of a tribe, a secret society of candy makers who were winning the global war for the "share of stomach."
The Environmentalist in the Boardroom
Late in his life, Forrest Jr. became deeply involved in land conservation, particularly in Montana. He wasn't doing it for tax breaks or PR. He genuinely cared about the American West.
He owned the Diamond Cross Ranch and spent millions protecting the land from development. But even here, he was a man of contradictions. He was a staunch supporter of the American Prairie Reserve, yet he was also fiercely protective of his own property rights. He didn't fit into a neat political box. He was a conservationist who also understood the realities of ranching and business.
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He donated quietly to various causes, often anonymously. You won't find many "Forrest Mars Jr. Wings" at hospitals, even though he had the money to build a hundred of them. He preferred to let the work speak for itself.
What We Get Wrong About the Mars Family
There’s this myth that the Mars family is like the real-life version of the Roy family from Succession. It makes for a great headline, but it’s mostly nonsense.
While there have certainly been internal tensions—especially between Forrest Jr. and his father, Forrest Sr., who was notoriously difficult—the siblings were remarkably unified. They understood that the family's strength came from their privacy and their refusal to fight in public.
Forrest Jr. wasn't a "trust fund kid" who just sat back and collected checks. He worked 80-hour weeks. He was deeply involved in the minutiae of the business until the day he retired. He was a builder.
The Succession Strategy
One of the most impressive things Forrest Jr. did was prepare the company for a future without him. Many family businesses crumble when the "Great Leader" passes away. Forrest, John, and Jacqueline created a governance structure that ensured the company would remain family-owned and professionally managed.
They hired top-tier talent from outside the family but indoctrinated them into the Five Principles. They made sure the next generation—his four daughters—were prepared but not entitled. This is why Mars continues to thrive while other family dynasties have evaporated into history.
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The Lessons of Forrest Edward Mars Jr.
So, what can a modern entrepreneur or manager actually learn from a man who lived in such a different era of business?
First, quality is the only true long-term moat. Markets change, fads come and go, but people will always pay for something that is consistently excellent. If you compromise on the product to save a few cents in the short term, you’ve already lost.
Second, culture isn't what you say; it's what you do. Forrest Jr. didn't talk about "synergy" or "transparency." He sat in an open office and punched a time clock. He led by example, even when that example was grueling.
Third, the long game is the only game. Because Mars is private, they can make decisions that won't pay off for twenty years. That is a massive competitive advantage. If you can afford to wait longer than your competitors for a result, you will almost always win.
Actionable Insights for the Modern Leader
If you want to apply the "Mars Way" to your own work or business, here are a few starting points that don't require being a billionaire:
- Audit Your Standards: Look at your "minimum acceptable quality." Is it actually good, or are you just used to it? Forrest Jr. would tell you to raise it until it hurts, then raise it again.
- Eliminate Artificial Barriers: If you’re a leader, get out of your private office. Sit with your team. Make yourself accessible. You’ll be amazed at how much faster problems get solved when you remove the "gatekeepers."
- Define Your Principles: Don't just pick some "values" from a list. What do you actually believe in? Mars had five. Most companies have too many. Pick a few and live by them, especially when it costs you money.
- Protect Your Focus: In an age of social media and constant PR, consider the value of "strategic silence." You don't always have to announce your next move. Sometimes, it’s better to just build in the dark and let the results do the talking.
Forrest Edward Mars Jr. wasn't a perfect man, and he certainly wasn't an easy boss. But he was a master of the fundamentals. He understood that at the end of the day, business is about making something people want, making it better than anyone else, and being disciplined enough to keep doing it for a hundred years.
He didn't need his name on a building to know he'd succeeded. He just needed to see a clean factory and a perfectly printed "m" on a chocolate button.
To dig deeper into the actual mechanics of the Mars business model, look into the "Five Principles of Mars" documentation. It’s a masterclass in corporate philosophy that has remained virtually unchanged since 1983. Understanding those principles is the closest you’ll ever get to seeing the blueprint Forrest Jr. used to build his world.