The Whole Foods' Founder's One Key to Wealth

People get to be adults and don't have the slightest clue about money, what to do about it, how to manage it, how to save it. If you can master the basics of personal finance, you're well on your way to becoming a wealthy person, just by saving and letting it compound over time.
— John Mackey

Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey says financial literacy, not luck, is the real key to wealth.

John Mackey co-founded Whole Foods Market in 1980 and sold the company to Amazon in 2017 for $13.7 billion. Estimates place his personal net worth at $85 million.

By any measure, Mackey is an Oracle of business and finance.

There have been some controversies. For example, he compared unions to “herpes," called Obamacare "fascism," feared socialists were "taking over" the USA, and said young people don't "want to work."

On the other hand, Mackey co-founded Conscious Capitalism and has long encouraged business leaders to operate ethically. For 20 consecutive years, he made Whole Foods Market one of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work for."

Institutional Investor named him the “Best CEO in America.” Barron’s called him the “World’s Best CEO,” and Esquire described Mackey as the world's “Most Inspiring CEO.”

Mackey's belief that purpose and self-development lead to wealth creation is behind today's quote. To help young people along that path, he advocates for personal finance to be taught in high school.

Mackey’s message is that purpose, self-discipline, and financial literacy compound into freedom, the same way savings do.

To learn more about Mackey's philosophy, read the best-selling Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business and Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business.

His memoir, The Whole Story: Adventures in Love, Life, and Capitalism, is also insightful and enjoyable.

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