John Mackey

John Powell Mackey (born August 15, 1953) is an American businessman, and writer.

Mackey was born on August 15, 1953, in Houston, Texas, the son of Margaret Wescott (Powell) and William Sturges "Bill" Mackey, Jr. He has a sister and a brother.

Mackey was a student of philosophy and religion at the University of Texas at Austin and Trinity University in the 1970s, and worked at a vegetarian co-op.

Mackey spent almost six years at university without achieving a degree.

Mackey credits his generalist approach to learning as the main reason he was able to be successful in business.

Mackey, who was a vegetarian for 30 years, now identifies as a vegan.

Mackey co-founded his first health food store, SaferWay, with his girlfriend Renee Lawson (Hardy) in Austin in 1978.

They met while living in a vegetarian housing co-op.

They dropped out of college.

They borrowed $10,000 and raised $35,000 more to start SaferWay.

At the time, Austin had several small health food stores.

The two ran the market on the first floor, a health food restaurant on the second, and, for a short time, lived in the third story of their building.

In two years, they merged SaferWay with Clarksville Natural Grocery run by Mark Skiles and Craig Weller and renamed the business Whole Foods Market.

All four (Mackey, Hardy-Lawson, Skiles and Weller) are considered co-founders of the business.

Mackey built Whole Foods into a multinational organization, with outlets in major markets across the country, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom.

Along the way he bought out smaller competitors.

He is the co-founder of Whole Foods Market and was the CEO of the company from its inception in 1980 until 2022.

Mackey's mother Margaret died in 1987 when John was thirty-four years of age.

John and Margaret had a strained relationship, partly due to her desire for a different future regarding her son.

Margaret felt that such a “fine mind” should devote its time doing something more productive than retailing.

John did not agree, but in later years he regretted that he did not make it more clear that he loved her.

Named Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the year in 2003, he is one of the most influential advocates in the movement for organic food.

A vocal member of the Libertarian Party, Mackey is a strong supporter of free market economics.

Mackey has criticized labor unions, and describes his views as "beyond union."

Mackey was influenced by animal rights activist, Lauren Ornelas, who criticized Whole Foods' animal standards regarding ducks at a shareholder meeting in 2003.

Mackey gave Ornelas his email address and they corresponded on the issue.

He studied issues related to factory farming and decided to switch to a primarily vegan diet that included only eggs from his own chickens.

John Mackey's father Bill was a professor of accounting, CEO of LifeMark, a health-care company, and investor of Whole Foods Market, before he died in 2004.

In the abstract to his book Conscious Capitalism, Mackey thanks his father for teaching him valuable life lessons.

Since 2006, he has followed an entirely plant-based diet.

He advocates tougher animal standards.

Despite Whole Foods' welfare standards, Mackey has been criticized by abolitionist vegans such as Gary L. Francione, who believes the Whole Foods company policies betray the animal rights position.

Mackey started a non-profit foundation, the Animal Compassion Foundation, to address making animal welfare more economically viable.

In 2007 Whole Foods purchased a major natural foods supermarket competitor, Wild Oats Markets, Inc.

Mackey is on multiple nonprofit boards of directors, including Students For Liberty, Global Animal Partnership, Conscious Capitalism, and the Humane Society of the United States.

Whole Foods was the first grocery chain to set standards for humane animal treatment.

The Animal Compassion Foundation folded in 2008 with the formation of the Global Animal Partnership, a nonprofit organization that is independent of Whole Foods Market.

Mackey is on the board of directors of Global Animal Partnership.

Additionally, he is a board member of Farm Forward, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that implements innovative strategies to promote conscientious food choices, reduce farmed animal suffering, and advance sustainable agriculture, and he has been a member of the board of directors for the Humane Society of the United States since 2009.

He co-wrote the bestselling book Conscious Capitalism, which was released in 2013.