WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.839 Welcome back to The Deep Dive. It's really great 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:04.540 to have you with us again. Yeah, good to be here. 00:00:05.059 --> 00:00:08.199 Today, we are unpacking a story that you absolutely 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:11.519 think you know. It's a name, a brand you see 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:14.480 in every single checkout aisle, every gas station, 00:00:14.619 --> 00:00:16.500 probably in your pantry right now. Oh, for sure. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:19.320 But if you peel back that wrapper, and the pun 00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:22.440 is absolutely intended, the story inside is so 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:26.969 much darker. and stranger and infinitely more 00:00:26.969 --> 00:00:29.129 complex than just a chocolate bar. It really 00:00:29.129 --> 00:00:32.289 is. I mean, this is a story about crushing repeated 00:00:32.289 --> 00:00:35.369 failure. It's about a utopian social experiment 00:00:35.369 --> 00:00:37.829 that, against all odds, actually worked. Right. 00:00:37.929 --> 00:00:40.689 And it's about a man who fundamentally changed 00:00:40.689 --> 00:00:42.869 the definition of corporate responsibility before 00:00:42.869 --> 00:00:45.490 that was even a concept that business schools 00:00:45.490 --> 00:00:47.850 taught. We are talking, of course, about Milton 00:00:47.850 --> 00:00:49.990 S. Hershey. And the mission of this deep dive 00:00:49.990 --> 00:00:53.270 is to look way, way past the candy. We're going 00:00:53.270 --> 00:00:56.350 to explore how a man with a fourth grade education. 00:00:56.630 --> 00:01:00.429 Fourth grade is wild. It's unbelievable how he 00:01:00.429 --> 00:01:03.770 revolutionized an industry, narrowly escaped 00:01:03.770 --> 00:01:06.590 sinking on the Titanic, and left behind this 00:01:06.590 --> 00:01:09.730 multi -billion dollar legacy that, technically 00:01:09.730 --> 00:01:12.030 speaking, exists primarily to support a single 00:01:12.030 --> 00:01:14.879 school. And that structure? that relationship 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:17.640 between the company and the school, that is really 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:20.120 the North Star for this entire discussion. We're 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:21.939 going to be looking at a case study in what you 00:01:21.939 --> 00:01:23.780 might call industrial philanthropy. Industrial 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:26.140 philanthropy. I like that. Yeah. And our sources 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:28.180 cover everything. We're looking at his early 00:01:28.180 --> 00:01:31.379 struggles, his massive pivot from caramel to 00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:34.829 chocolate, his... his contributions to World 00:01:34.829 --> 00:01:37.790 War II, and then the legal intricacies of the 00:01:37.790 --> 00:01:39.609 trust he established, which is a whole story 00:01:39.609 --> 00:01:41.750 in itself. And I have to say, looking at the 00:01:41.750 --> 00:01:43.409 research, one of the things I am most excited 00:01:43.409 --> 00:01:45.170 to get into is the story of the Ration D Bar. 00:01:45.370 --> 00:01:48.069 Ah, yes. This is a chocolate bar Hershey made 00:01:48.069 --> 00:01:50.849 for the Army that was specifically designed to 00:01:50.849 --> 00:01:54.450 taste, well, to taste it. Deliberately unappetizing. 00:01:54.609 --> 00:01:57.250 Right. It is a brilliant, if slightly cruel, 00:01:57.450 --> 00:01:59.829 bit of engineering psychology. And we will definitely 00:01:59.829 --> 00:02:02.459 get into the why of that. I can't wait. But before 00:02:02.459 --> 00:02:04.780 we get to the war and the billions, we have to 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:07.000 start at the bottom. I mean, we usually think 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.960 of these Gilded Age tycoons, your Rockefellers, 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:12.460 your Carnegies, as these, you know, ruthless 00:02:12.460 --> 00:02:16.080 titans. Where does Hershey fit into that landscape? 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:19.139 Was he cut from the same cloth? That's the interesting 00:02:19.139 --> 00:02:21.699 tension, right? He was absolutely a capitalist. 00:02:21.979 --> 00:02:23.819 I mean, let's be clear. He wanted to dominate 00:02:23.819 --> 00:02:26.240 the market. He was competitive. But his... His 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:29.159 software, if you will, was just programmed differently. 00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:33.699 He was born September 13, 1857, in Derry Township, 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:37.000 Pennsylvania. His family was Mennonite, Swiss, 00:02:37.219 --> 00:02:39.219 and German descent. Okay, so that's a big deal. 00:02:39.340 --> 00:02:41.800 He's growing up in a community that values simplicity, 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:45.620 pacifism, community welfare. That has to shape 00:02:45.620 --> 00:02:47.620 you. It's crucial. He grew up speaking Pennsylvania 00:02:47.620 --> 00:02:50.680 Dutch. Right. And that background... It instilled 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:53.340 this very specific work ethic and maybe more 00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:55.219 importantly, a sense of stewardship over wealth. 00:02:55.340 --> 00:02:57.639 But it did not give him a head start in business. 00:02:57.780 --> 00:02:59.960 Right. In fact, this is the underdog setup that 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:02.280 really frames his whole life. His education was 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:04.319 extremely limited. He stopped going to school 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:06.400 after the fourth grade. Let's just pause on that 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:08.860 for a second. Fourth grade, we are talking about 00:03:08.860 --> 00:03:13.479 a guy who built a global empire and he essentially 00:03:13.479 --> 00:03:16.180 never learned algebra or high school history 00:03:16.180 --> 00:03:20.389 or physics. Nothing. He's done with school. In 00:03:20.389 --> 00:03:22.550 1871, he's 14 years old, and his entry into the 00:03:22.550 --> 00:03:24.949 workforce isn't exactly, you know, a rocket launch. 00:03:25.250 --> 00:03:28.090 He was apprenticed to a local printer, a guy 00:03:28.090 --> 00:03:30.349 named Sam Ernst, who ran a German -English newspaper. 00:03:30.689 --> 00:03:33.129 A printer? That feels like a solid trade for 00:03:33.129 --> 00:03:35.569 that era. Stable. How'd he do? He was terrible 00:03:35.569 --> 00:03:38.030 at it. Just awful. He was clumsy, he hated the 00:03:38.030 --> 00:03:40.090 work, he wasn't interested, and eventually he 00:03:40.090 --> 00:03:42.430 got fired. Okay, so strike one. Fired from his 00:03:42.430 --> 00:03:45.340 first real job. Precisely. So his family steps 00:03:45.340 --> 00:03:48.520 in. His mother, Fanny, who was a really strong 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:51.219 influence his whole life, she suggests the candy 00:03:51.219 --> 00:03:53.620 trade. She arranges for him to apprentice with 00:03:53.620 --> 00:03:56.319 a confectioner, Joseph Royer, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:59.060 And he spends four years there. So he's learning 00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:02.060 the ropes. Sugar, temperature, timing, all of 00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:04.560 that. Exactly. He's learning the craft. And this 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.780 is what kicks off what I like to call his tour 00:04:06.780 --> 00:04:10.319 of failures. Because once he finishes that apprenticeship, 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:12.199 he doesn't just settle down. He's got ambition. 00:04:13.369 --> 00:04:15.770 In 1876, he moves to Philadelphia to start his 00:04:15.770 --> 00:04:18.870 very first business. He's young. He's ready to 00:04:18.870 --> 00:04:21.470 conquer the city. And Philadelphia in 1876, I 00:04:21.470 --> 00:04:23.689 mean, that's the centennial exposition year. 00:04:23.850 --> 00:04:26.129 The whole world is there. The city is booming. 00:04:26.490 --> 00:04:28.930 It is. It's the place to be. But the business 00:04:28.930 --> 00:04:32.529 fails, completely collapses. He just can't make 00:04:32.529 --> 00:04:34.970 it work. And he packs up. He packs up. And this 00:04:34.970 --> 00:04:36.810 is where his persistence starts to look, you 00:04:36.810 --> 00:04:39.230 know, bordering on masochism. He goes to Denver. 00:04:39.610 --> 00:04:41.509 Tries to work there, learn some things. Then 00:04:41.509 --> 00:04:43.930 he goes to New Orleans, then Chicago. He's just 00:04:43.930 --> 00:04:45.990 wandering across a country that's incredibly 00:04:45.990 --> 00:04:49.389 economically volatile, looking for a foothold. 00:04:49.509 --> 00:04:52.430 Wow. Then in 1883, he lands in New York City. 00:04:52.509 --> 00:04:54.470 He gets some training at a place called Heiler's, 00:04:54.470 --> 00:04:56.290 which was a massive name in candy at the time. 00:04:56.629 --> 00:04:59.250 And he starts his second real business. New York 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:01.050 City. OK, this is the biggest stage there is. 00:05:01.069 --> 00:05:02.470 If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere, 00:05:02.529 --> 00:05:05.139 right? He didn't make it there either. You're 00:05:05.139 --> 00:05:08.259 kidding me. Nope. Initially, it does OK, but 00:05:08.259 --> 00:05:11.459 it only lasts for three years. By 1886, that 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:13.959 business closes, too. He's out of money again. 00:05:14.180 --> 00:05:16.720 So let's just recap here. He's been fired from 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:19.540 the printing gig. He failed in Philly during 00:05:19.540 --> 00:05:22.720 this huge national celebration. He's failed in 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:25.100 New York City. He's traveled half the country, 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:27.439 presumably burning through whatever capital or 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:29.939 family loans he had. All of it. Most people would 00:05:29.939 --> 00:05:31.639 have just gone back to the farm and said, you 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:34.620 know what? I tried. It's not for me. And that's 00:05:34.620 --> 00:05:37.259 where the narrative usually ends for 99 % of 00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:40.639 people. But there is a specific detail from his 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.980 time in Denver during that wandering phase that 00:05:43.980 --> 00:05:46.720 is absolutely crucial. It is the technical aha 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:49.399 moment that eventually changes everything for 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:51.480 him. What happened in Denver? What was the secret? 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:53.620 While he was working for a confectioner there, 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:57.180 he learned a very specific technique, how to 00:05:57.180 --> 00:06:00.480 make caramel using fresh milk. Fresh milk. Why 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:02.139 is that the secret sauce? I mean, that seems 00:06:02.139 --> 00:06:05.019 almost obvious to us now. In the late 19th century, 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.699 it was not obvious at all. Most candies, especially 00:06:07.699 --> 00:06:10.120 caramels, use things like paraffin. Yeah, basically 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:13.189 wax or. Other stabilizers to hold their shape 00:06:13.189 --> 00:06:16.269 and texture. Using fresh milk was really, really 00:06:16.269 --> 00:06:19.389 difficult. Milk spoils, it scorches, it's hard 00:06:19.389 --> 00:06:21.589 to work with in large batches. It's temperamental. 00:06:21.670 --> 00:06:23.850 Okay. But if you can get it right, it makes the 00:06:23.850 --> 00:06:25.910 caramel so much creamier, it gives it a significantly 00:06:25.910 --> 00:06:28.990 better shelf life, and the flavor profile is 00:06:28.990 --> 00:06:32.170 just, it's completely different. It creates that 00:06:32.170 --> 00:06:35.009 rich, dairy -forward taste that we associate 00:06:35.009 --> 00:06:37.689 with good caramel today. So he filed that knowledge 00:06:37.689 --> 00:06:40.120 away. Even though his own businesses were failing 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:42.540 left and right, he kept that technical insight 00:06:42.540 --> 00:06:45.740 in his back pocket. Precisely. He knew he had 00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:48.060 a superior product methodology. He just hadn't 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:49.759 found the right market or the right business 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:52.699 model to make it work. So, you know, battered 00:06:52.699 --> 00:06:55.019 but not completely broken, he returns to Lancaster, 00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:57.319 Pennsylvania in 1883. Back to where he started. 00:06:57.420 --> 00:06:59.279 Full circle. Completely full circle. Yeah. And 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:01.740 he decides to try one more time. He starts the 00:07:01.740 --> 00:07:04.379 Lancaster Caramel Company. And this, this is 00:07:04.379 --> 00:07:07.420 where the tide finally turns. It does. And it 00:07:07.420 --> 00:07:10.000 turns in a huge way. He applies that fresh milk 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.620 method he learned out in Denver. The product 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:14.399 is just strictly better than the competition. 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:17.100 It's softer. It's tastier. It lasts longer on 00:07:17.100 --> 00:07:21.019 the shelf. And the company just explodes. How 00:07:21.019 --> 00:07:23.819 big are we talking? By the early 1890s, he has 00:07:23.819 --> 00:07:27.180 over 1 ,300 workers. Wow. He has two factories. 00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:29.660 He is exporting caramels in bulk to England. 00:07:29.819 --> 00:07:32.220 I mean, he is known literally as the Caramel 00:07:32.220 --> 00:07:35.149 King. So he finally made it. He's wealthy. He's 00:07:35.149 --> 00:07:37.529 successful. He employs a whole town's worth of 00:07:37.529 --> 00:07:40.189 people. In any other biography, this is the happily 00:07:40.189 --> 00:07:42.490 ever after. He could have just coasted on caramel 00:07:42.490 --> 00:07:44.350 for the rest of his life. He could have. Absolutely. 00:07:44.610 --> 00:07:46.430 And this is where we see the visionary part of 00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:49.170 Hershey, or maybe just the restlessness in him. 00:07:49.310 --> 00:07:52.550 In 1893, he takes a trip to Chicago for the World's 00:07:52.550 --> 00:07:55.209 Columbian Exposition. The famous Chicago World's 00:07:55.209 --> 00:07:57.410 Fair. This was the place where the Ferris wheel 00:07:57.410 --> 00:08:00.050 debuted, where electricity was really showcased 00:08:00.050 --> 00:08:02.069 for the first time on a mass scale. It was the 00:08:02.069 --> 00:08:05.310 future on display. Right. And amidst all these 00:08:05.310 --> 00:08:08.089 incredible wonders, you know, Tesla's AC current, 00:08:08.189 --> 00:08:11.649 the moving walkways, Hershey finds this one exhibit 00:08:11.649 --> 00:08:14.269 and becomes absolutely obsessed with it. It's 00:08:14.269 --> 00:08:17.730 a display of German chocolate -making machinery. 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:20.449 Not the chocolate itself, but the machines. The 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:21.810 whole process. You have to understand, at that 00:08:21.810 --> 00:08:23.589 time, chocolate was not a mass market snack. 00:08:23.829 --> 00:08:26.529 It was a luxury good. It was largely dominated 00:08:26.529 --> 00:08:29.149 by the Swiss. It was dark. It was kind of bitter. 00:08:29.290 --> 00:08:31.509 And it was expensive. It was for the elite. Right. 00:08:31.689 --> 00:08:34.889 But Hershey looks at this machinery and he sees 00:08:34.889 --> 00:08:37.980 the potential. He thinks. I can do this better 00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:41.179 and I can do it for everyone. He sees a democratization 00:08:41.179 --> 00:08:43.500 of luxury. He wants to take this thing for the 00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:45.879 rich and give it to the working person. He does. 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:48.480 And he reportedly made a comment that turned 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:51.000 out to be incredibly prophetic. He said, caramels 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:53.419 are just a fad, but chocolate is a permanent 00:08:53.419 --> 00:08:55.659 thing. That is such a bold statement to make 00:08:55.659 --> 00:08:58.620 when you are literally the caramel king. It's 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:00.580 unbelievably bold. And he puts his money where 00:09:00.580 --> 00:09:03.480 his mouth is. In 1900, he does something that 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:06.549 absolutely shocked his peers. He sells the Lancaster 00:09:06.549 --> 00:09:10.070 Caramel Company. He sells the Golden Goose. For 00:09:10.070 --> 00:09:13.049 how much? For $1 million. Okay, we need to contextualize 00:09:13.049 --> 00:09:17.169 that number. $1 million in the year 1900. It 00:09:17.169 --> 00:09:19.389 is an astronomical amount of money. Yeah. In 00:09:19.389 --> 00:09:21.149 today's purchasing power, especially if you think 00:09:21.149 --> 00:09:22.870 about it in terms of industrial capital, you're 00:09:22.870 --> 00:09:25.830 talking tens of millions, maybe even more. It's 00:09:25.830 --> 00:09:27.549 forget about work for the rest of your life. 00:09:28.009 --> 00:09:31.029 Money. But he doesn't retire to a beach somewhere. 00:09:31.309 --> 00:09:33.990 Not even close. He takes that entire fortune 00:09:33.990 --> 00:09:36.850 and bets it all on a brand new industry, mass 00:09:36.850 --> 00:09:39.529 -produced milk chocolate. Yeah, it is a massive 00:09:39.529 --> 00:09:41.870 pivot. It's like the CEO of a successful car 00:09:41.870 --> 00:09:45.250 company suddenly selling everything to go all 00:09:45.250 --> 00:09:48.070 in on, I don't know, hoverboards before the technology 00:09:48.070 --> 00:09:50.750 is even really proven. It's a huge risk. And 00:09:50.750 --> 00:09:52.909 he knows he needs to build a factory, but not 00:09:52.909 --> 00:09:55.269 just any factory. He has to remember that lesson 00:09:55.269 --> 00:09:58.159 from Denver. The fresh milk. The fresh milk. 00:09:58.220 --> 00:10:01.700 That is his secret weapon. He needs vast, unbelievable 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:04.759 quantities of fresh milk to make his formula 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:07.759 work on a mass scale. So he can't just build 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:09.919 this in downtown Philadelphia or New York. He 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:13.039 needs to be where the cows are. Exactly. He has 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:16.200 to go to the source. So he buys a huge tract 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:19.419 of farmland, roughly 30 miles from Lancaster, 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:21.639 right near his birthplace in Derry Township. 00:10:21.820 --> 00:10:24.580 Was that just nostalgia? I want to go home. I 00:10:24.580 --> 00:10:26.799 think there was an element of that for sure. 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:29.860 But practically, it was a brilliant business 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:32.559 move. It was the center of dairy farmland in 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.919 Pennsylvania. He had direct, immediate access 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:38.940 to the single most important raw material he 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:41.399 needed. He essentially integrated his supply 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:44.179 chain before vertical integration was, you know, 00:10:44.179 --> 00:10:46.340 a standard business school strategy. So he's 00:10:46.340 --> 00:10:48.980 got the land, he's got the cows. What about the 00:10:48.980 --> 00:10:50.980 chocolate itself? Is he just copying the Swiss? 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:53.860 No, he spends a lot of time perfecting his own 00:10:53.860 --> 00:10:56.299 formula. He wasn't just trying to replicate what 00:10:56.299 --> 00:10:58.759 was already out there. He wanted a specific taste 00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:01.299 that could be mass produced, would remain stable 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:03.440 on the shelf for a long time, and would appeal 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:05.700 to the American palate. The first Hershey bar 00:11:05.700 --> 00:11:08.299 is sold in 1900. And clearly people liked it. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.600 They loved it. It was affordable luxury. For 00:11:10.600 --> 00:11:12.919 a nickel, a factory worker could enjoy something 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:15.179 that just a few years earlier was reserved for 00:11:15.179 --> 00:11:17.000 the upper class. And then he starts innovating. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:19.679 Immediately. He innovates on the form factor. 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:24.000 In 1907, he introduces Hershey's Kisses. In 1908, 00:11:24.220 --> 00:11:27.059 the Hershey bar with almonds. The business just 00:11:27.059 --> 00:11:29.379 scales and scales. And as the factory gets bigger, 00:11:29.460 --> 00:11:31.960 he needs more workers. A lot more workers. But 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:33.379 he's out in the middle of dairy country. There's 00:11:33.379 --> 00:11:35.139 no housing. There's no infrastructure. There's 00:11:35.139 --> 00:11:37.100 nothing there. So he has to build it all himself. 00:11:37.379 --> 00:11:39.100 He has to build a town. And this brings us to 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:42.279 the utopia part of his vision. You have to understand, 00:11:42.419 --> 00:11:46.240 in the late 19th and early 20th century, company 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:50.460 towns were not a new concept. But they had a 00:11:50.460 --> 00:11:52.860 very, very bad reputation. Right. When I hear 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:55.340 company town, I'm thinking of coal mining towns 00:11:55.340 --> 00:11:57.860 or the Pullman district in Chicago. Exactly. 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:00.440 Pullman is the classic example. George Pullman 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:02.639 built this whole town for his rail car workers. 00:12:02.840 --> 00:12:05.639 But it was incredibly rigid. It was paternalistic 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:08.200 in a really controlling way. And ultimately, 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:10.980 it was exploitative. The whole I owe my soul 00:12:10.980 --> 00:12:14.440 to the company store vibe. That's it. They paid 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:16.580 workers in script that was only good at the company 00:12:16.580 --> 00:12:19.320 store. Rents were high even when wages were being 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:22.919 cut. It led to massive violent strikes. It was 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:25.659 not a happy place. So how did Hershey do it differently? 00:12:26.019 --> 00:12:28.720 He took a radically different approach. He didn't 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:30.899 want a labor camp. He wanted a real community. 00:12:31.379 --> 00:12:34.980 He had this core belief that workers who were 00:12:34.980 --> 00:12:37.340 treated well, who lived in dignity, and who had 00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:40.320 access to culture and leisure. would be better 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:42.759 workers and better citizens. Oh, what did he 00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:44.700 build for them? What were the basics? He built 00:12:44.700 --> 00:12:46.980 comfortable houses with indoor plumbing and electricity, 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:49.679 which were still luxuries for many at the time. 00:12:49.980 --> 00:12:52.600 He built businesses, churches, a whole transportation 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:55.059 infrastructure with a trolley system to connect 00:12:55.059 --> 00:12:57.879 the town. But then he went way, way beyond the 00:12:57.879 --> 00:12:59.860 basics. I'm looking at the list of things he 00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:02.580 built here, and it's kind of staggering. Hershey 00:13:02.580 --> 00:13:06.200 Park. The Hotel Hershey. The Hershey Theater. 00:13:07.629 --> 00:13:09.490 Hershey Gardens. It sounds like a resort, not 00:13:09.490 --> 00:13:11.730 a factory town. It is. He built a full -blown 00:13:11.730 --> 00:13:13.850 amusement park so his employees and their families 00:13:13.850 --> 00:13:16.649 would have a place to picnic and relax. The theater 00:13:16.649 --> 00:13:18.649 he built was so grand, it brought in Broadway 00:13:18.649 --> 00:13:22.049 -level shows. In 1935, he established the M .S. 00:13:22.070 --> 00:13:24.610 Hershey Foundation just to fund culture and education 00:13:24.610 --> 00:13:27.090 for the residents of his town. It almost sounds 00:13:27.090 --> 00:13:29.909 too good to be true. Was there a catch? Was this 00:13:29.909 --> 00:13:32.629 just, you know, a clever way to keep unions out? 00:13:32.850 --> 00:13:35.649 That's a fair question. And certainly happy workers 00:13:35.649 --> 00:13:38.509 are less likely to unionize. And Hershey was 00:13:38.509 --> 00:13:40.830 a businessman who wanted stability and no labor 00:13:40.830 --> 00:13:44.429 trouble. But the sheer level of investment suggests 00:13:44.429 --> 00:13:47.269 it was more than just a union -busting tactic. 00:13:47.750 --> 00:13:50.350 I mean, get this. He transferred the land for 00:13:50.350 --> 00:13:54.870 the Hershey Cemetery for $1. $1. $1. He wanted 00:13:54.870 --> 00:13:57.090 his workers and their families to have a dignified 00:13:57.090 --> 00:14:00.250 place to rest, even after they were gone. He 00:14:00.250 --> 00:14:02.269 was building a complete life cycle community. 00:14:02.470 --> 00:14:04.509 It's incredible. But the town, as impressive 00:14:04.509 --> 00:14:07.049 as it is, isn't his biggest legacy. Not by a 00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:09.210 long shot. We have to talk about the school. 00:14:09.309 --> 00:14:11.169 And to talk about the school, we have to talk 00:14:11.169 --> 00:14:14.029 about his wife, Kitty. Right. Catherine Kitty 00:14:14.029 --> 00:14:17.429 Sweeney. He married her in 1898. And this was 00:14:17.429 --> 00:14:19.669 a bit of a mismatch on paper, wasn't it? Oh, 00:14:19.690 --> 00:14:21.610 absolutely. I mean, Hershey was this frugal, 00:14:21.649 --> 00:14:24.549 pretty reserved Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonite. 00:14:24.889 --> 00:14:27.429 Kitty was an Irish -American Catholic from Jamestown, 00:14:27.470 --> 00:14:30.289 New York. She was bubbly. She loved society. 00:14:30.289 --> 00:14:32.929 She was vibrant. They were opposites in many 00:14:32.929 --> 00:14:35.429 ways. But by all accounts, they were deeply, 00:14:35.549 --> 00:14:37.649 deeply devoted to each other. But there was a 00:14:37.649 --> 00:14:40.009 real tragedy in their marriage. There was. They 00:14:40.009 --> 00:14:43.129 were never able to have children. And for a man 00:14:43.129 --> 00:14:45.990 who is building an empire, having no heir is 00:14:45.990 --> 00:14:48.429 a significant issue. It forces you to ask that 00:14:48.429 --> 00:14:50.990 fundamental question. Who is all of this for? 00:14:51.169 --> 00:14:53.789 But beyond the business implications, they just 00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:56.470 genuinely wanted a family. And on top of that, 00:14:56.690 --> 00:14:59.029 Kitty's health was always very frail. She suffered 00:14:59.029 --> 00:15:01.429 from a debilitating illness, likely some sort 00:15:01.429 --> 00:15:03.990 of neurological condition that just got worse 00:15:03.990 --> 00:15:07.190 over time. She eventually died quite young in 00:15:07.190 --> 00:15:09.929 1915. That's heartbreaking. So no children to 00:15:09.929 --> 00:15:11.990 leave the fortune to. What did they decide to 00:15:11.990 --> 00:15:15.210 do? Well, before she died in 1909, they made 00:15:15.210 --> 00:15:17.289 a decision together that would define the company, 00:15:17.409 --> 00:15:20.409 the town, everything forever. They signed a deed 00:15:20.409 --> 00:15:21.970 of trust establishing the Hershey Industrial 00:15:21.970 --> 00:15:23.950 School. And what was the original purpose of 00:15:23.950 --> 00:15:26.649 the school? It was for local white orphan boys. 00:15:27.570 --> 00:15:30.389 The idea was to give them a good home, a solid 00:15:30.389 --> 00:15:32.789 education, and a trade they could use to build 00:15:32.789 --> 00:15:36.070 a life. It started very small in the old homestead 00:15:36.070 --> 00:15:38.639 where Hershey himself was born. So it was a nice 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.419 charitable project, a good thing to do. At first, 00:15:41.620 --> 00:15:44.940 yes. But here's the so what moment that I think 00:15:44.940 --> 00:15:48.120 just blows people's minds. In 1918, three years 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:51.000 after Kitty died, Milton Hershey, who is now 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:53.840 a widower with no direct heirs, he didn't just 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:55.840 donate some extra cash to the school. What did 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.139 he do? He transferred the majority of his personal 00:15:58.139 --> 00:16:00.440 assets, including the controlling interest in 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:02.259 the Hershey Chocolate Company, to the Milton 00:16:02.259 --> 00:16:05.059 Hershey School Trust. Wait, wait. I want to be 00:16:05.059 --> 00:16:07.519 absolutely crystal clear on this. He gave the 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:10.500 company to the school. Effectively, yes. The 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:12.759 trust he created for the school holds the majority 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:14.799 of the voting shares of the Hershey Company. 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:17.860 That means the school, which is now called the 00:16:17.860 --> 00:16:20.019 Milton Hershey School and is much more diverse, 00:16:20.179 --> 00:16:22.360 controls the company. So let me get this straight. 00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:25.220 When I buy a Reese's Cup or a Hershey bar today, 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:28.570 the profits... or at least the voting power behind 00:16:28.570 --> 00:16:30.909 the company that's making it, are sitting with 00:16:30.909 --> 00:16:33.370 a boarding school for underprivileged kids. Correct. 00:16:33.470 --> 00:16:36.389 The dividends from those shares are what fund 00:16:36.389 --> 00:16:39.889 the school. And the trust also controls 100 % 00:16:39.889 --> 00:16:42.149 of the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. 00:16:42.350 --> 00:16:45.409 So the hotel, the amusement park, the stadium, 00:16:45.610 --> 00:16:47.730 it's all owned by the trust for the benefit of 00:16:47.730 --> 00:16:50.700 the school. That is just wild. I mean, usually 00:16:50.700 --> 00:16:53.200 you see billionaires setting up foundations that 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:55.379 do good work, but they keep the business control 00:16:55.379 --> 00:16:57.980 completely separate. Or the foundation is just 00:16:57.980 --> 00:17:00.039 a tax vehicle. He literally married the business 00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:02.100 to the charity. And he did it while he was still 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:05.299 alive. This is key. He gave up control of his 00:17:05.299 --> 00:17:08.819 fortune in 1918. He led until 1945. For nearly 00:17:08.819 --> 00:17:11.599 30 years, he went to work every day for the company 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:13.759 that was effectively owned by the school he created. 00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:16.180 And what's the scale of this school today? It's 00:17:16.180 --> 00:17:19.940 immense. As of the data we have from 2016, the 00:17:19.940 --> 00:17:22.599 school accommodates around 2 ,000 students from 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.079 pre -K through 12th grade. It provides them with 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:28.980 literally everything. Housing, a top -tier education, 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:32.660 clothing, medical and dental care, even college 00:17:32.660 --> 00:17:35.380 scholarships. For free. Completely free for the 00:17:35.380 --> 00:17:37.859 students and their families. It is, by a huge 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:40.299 margin, the richest private school in the world, 00:17:40.380 --> 00:17:43.119 not because of tuition, but because of this massive 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:45.339 endowment from the chocolate company. Speaking 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:47.900 of medical care, there's another huge institution 00:17:47.900 --> 00:17:50.059 in Hershey that came out of this, right? the 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:52.799 medical center. And this involves a really interesting 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:55.660 legal twist. This is a fascinating legal story. 00:17:55.940 --> 00:17:59.079 So by the early 1960s, the chocolate company 00:17:59.079 --> 00:18:01.880 had been so successful for so long that the trust 00:18:01.880 --> 00:18:04.160 had accumulated an exorbitant amount of money. 00:18:04.259 --> 00:18:06.279 A good problem to have. An amazing problem to 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:07.920 have. They actually couldn't spend it all just 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:09.940 on the school without being incredibly wasteful. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:12.599 Help, we have too much money. A problem most 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:15.680 nonprofits would kill for. Right. But legally, 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:17.700 a trust has to follow the intent of the donor. 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:20.619 It can't just sit on cash. So the board went 00:18:20.619 --> 00:18:23.099 to the Dauphin County Orphans Court, and they 00:18:23.099 --> 00:18:27.319 invoked a legal doctrine called CIPRES. The CIPRES. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.240 That sounds French. It is. It means as close 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:32.400 as possible. Basically, it's a rule that says 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.059 if a charitable trust can't fulfill its original, 00:18:35.180 --> 00:18:38.039 very specific intent, maybe because it has too 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:40.759 much money or conditions have changed, the court 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:42.839 can allow them to use the money for a purpose 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:45.599 that is as close as possible to the original 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:47.680 intent of the donor. OK, so what did they argue 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:50.980 was as close as possible to an orphanage? They 00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:53.000 argued that Milton Hershey's core intent was 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:55.640 to help people, especially children, in his community. 00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:58.460 So they proposed a massive gift of $50 million 00:18:58.460 --> 00:19:01.700 to Penn State University to build a world -class 00:19:01.700 --> 00:19:04.700 teaching hospital and medical center. The catch. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:07.319 Let me guess. It had to be built in Hershey. 00:19:07.380 --> 00:19:08.799 It had to be built in Hershey, Pennsylvania. 00:19:09.019 --> 00:19:12.559 A $50 million gift in 1963. That is a monumental 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.019 amount of money. It was one of the largest single 00:19:15.019 --> 00:19:17.339 philanthropic gifts in American history at the 00:19:17.339 --> 00:19:20.220 time. And that's how the Penn State Milton S. 00:19:20.299 --> 00:19:23.359 Hershey Medical Center was born. It's this elite 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:25.500 teaching hospital in the middle of a relatively 00:19:25.500 --> 00:19:29.000 small town, all because the chocolate money overflowed 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:31.220 the school's capacity to spend it. It really 00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:33.839 speaks to the power of compound interest and 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.380 a successful business model when it's tied directly 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:38.680 to a philanthropic mission like that. It does. 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:41.500 It created this self -sustaining ecosystem of 00:19:41.500 --> 00:19:44.400 wealth and community care that is still running 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:47.000 today. I want to pivot a little bit to some of 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:49.700 the historical intersections because Hershey's 00:19:49.700 --> 00:19:52.000 life bumps up against some of the biggest events 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:55.000 of the 20th century. And the first one is a story 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:57.220 that just gives me chills every time I think 00:19:57.220 --> 00:19:59.480 about it. The Titanic. It is one of those incredible 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:03.079 what if moments in history. So in 1912, Milton 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:06.039 and Kitty Hershey were in Europe. They were traveling. 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:08.400 Possibly looking for medical treatments for Kitty, 00:20:08.519 --> 00:20:10.839 maybe just vacationing. They were booked to travel 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:13.539 back to the U .S. on the maiden voyage of the 00:20:13.539 --> 00:20:16.039 RMS Titanic. They actually had the tickets. This 00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:18.900 isn't just a rumor or a legend. No, they had 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:20.599 the tickets. In fact, the Hershey Story Museum 00:20:20.599 --> 00:20:24.099 archives have a copy of the check Milton wrote 00:20:24.099 --> 00:20:27.319 to the White Star Line. It was for the deposit 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:30.640 on a first -class stateroom. It is a physical 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.680 piece of evidence. So why didn't they get on 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:35.559 the boat? What happened? There's a common myth 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:37.319 that they canceled at the last minute because 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:40.740 Kitty suddenly fell ill. But the sources we have 00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:43.400 indicate she had been ill for years. So that 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:46.099 wasn't a sudden change. The actual reason appears 00:20:46.099 --> 00:20:48.579 to be much more mundane. Don't tell me it was 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:50.660 a scheduling conflict. It was basically a scheduling 00:20:50.660 --> 00:20:53.460 conflict. Yeah. Business matters came up that 00:20:53.460 --> 00:20:55.500 required Milton's attention back in Pennsylvania 00:20:55.500 --> 00:20:58.220 earlier than they had planned. So just a simple, 00:20:58.299 --> 00:21:01.019 boring business matter. Exactly. They canceled 00:21:01.019 --> 00:21:03.339 their Titanic reservation and ended up taking 00:21:03.339 --> 00:21:06.680 an earlier German liner, the SS America, instead. 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:09.720 The SS America? Wait, wasn't that ship? Wasn't 00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:11.240 that one of the ships that sent one of the ice 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:13.599 warnings to the Titanic? It was. It's a very 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:15.920 chilling connection. But the butterfly effect 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.339 there is just staggering if he gets on that boat. 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:21.140 The whole story changes. The Chocolate Empire 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:23.980 might have crumbled or been sold off by executors. 00:21:24.380 --> 00:21:26.940 The school, which was only three years old at 00:21:26.940 --> 00:21:29.440 that point, might not have survived. let alone 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:31.839 grown to what it is today. The medical center 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:34.420 definitely wouldn't exist. Definitely not. Thousands 00:21:34.420 --> 00:21:36.119 of children over the last century would have 00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:39.000 had completely different lives. The town of Hershey 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:41.279 might just be another blip on the map in rural 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:43.519 Pennsylvania. It is terrifying to think about. 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:45.480 A simple business meeting altered the course 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:47.720 of history for thousands of people a century 00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:51.779 later. But he did survive. And because he survived, 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:54.500 he was around for the next great global crisis, 00:21:55.059 --> 00:21:57.279 World War II. Which brings us to the ration D 00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:00.380 bar. You promised us the story of the bad -tasting 00:22:00.380 --> 00:22:02.799 chocolate. I did, and this is such a great example 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.619 of Hershey's pragmatism meeting, you know, government 00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:07.759 bureaucracy. Okay, set the scene for us. It's 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:10.359 the late 1930s. War is looming on the horizon. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:13.200 The U .S. Army approaches Hershey with a problem. 00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:15.960 They know chocolate is a high -energy food, and 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:17.940 they need a durable ration bar for the troops. 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:21.339 But they have very specific and, frankly, kind 00:22:21.339 --> 00:22:23.779 of contradictory requirements. Okay, lay them 00:22:23.779 --> 00:22:26.799 on me. Requirement number one. It has to weigh 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:29.779 one or two ounces. Simple enough. Requirement 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:33.039 number two. It has to resist melting at temperatures 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:36.140 higher than 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Which makes 00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:38.740 total sense. Troops would be fighting in the 00:22:38.740 --> 00:22:41.859 Pacific, in North Africa. Standard chocolate 00:22:41.859 --> 00:22:44.619 turns to soup at around 80 degrees. Exactly. 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:48.019 But here is requirement number three, the real 00:22:48.019 --> 00:22:51.180 kicker. It had to have an unpleasant enough flavor 00:22:51.180 --> 00:22:53.720 to prevent the troops from just snacking on them. 00:22:53.900 --> 00:22:55.980 Wait, I need to wrap my head around this. They 00:22:55.980 --> 00:22:58.240 went to the premier chocolate company in America 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:00.440 and asked them to make chocolate that people 00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:03.160 wouldn't want to eat. Precisely. You have to 00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:05.359 put yourself in the mindset of an army quartermaster. 00:23:06.019 --> 00:23:08.519 These were emergency survival rations. They were 00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:10.599 meant for a situation where you're cut off from 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:12.839 supply lines, maybe you're stranded behind enemy 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.859 lines. If the bar tasted like a delicious, creamy 00:23:15.859 --> 00:23:18.900 Hershey bar, what would the soldiers do? They'd 00:23:18.900 --> 00:23:20.980 eat it on day one as a treat. Of course they 00:23:20.980 --> 00:23:22.880 would. And then when they were actually starving 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:25.140 three days later, they'd have nothing left. The 00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:26.980 army needed to save the soldiers from themselves. 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:31.259 That is some dark, pragmatic logic. Make it grow 00:23:31.259 --> 00:23:33.839 so it saves their life. It worked. Hershey's 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:36.480 chemists got to work on it. They developed this 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:39.799 new formula that used oat flour, sugar, cocoa 00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:42.640 butter, skim milk powder, and some artificial 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:45.400 flavoring. It was dense. It was hard as a rock. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:47.559 How hard are we talking? We're talking so hard 00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:49.460 that the official instructions suggested it was 00:23:49.460 --> 00:23:52.960 best to shave slices off it with a knife. Soldiers 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.500 reportedly hated it. They had nicknames for it, 00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:57.380 like Hitler's secret weapon, because it was so 00:23:57.380 --> 00:23:59.940 tough to chew. But did it do the job? Did it 00:23:59.940 --> 00:24:02.420 meet the requirements? It did. Perfectly. It 00:24:02.420 --> 00:24:05.519 provided 600 calories in a tiny, stable package. 00:24:05.579 --> 00:24:07.839 It didn't melt in the jungle heat. And it kept 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:09.980 men alive in the worst possible conditions. How 00:24:09.980 --> 00:24:13.130 many of these... brick flavored bars did they 00:24:13.130 --> 00:24:15.009 end up making? The production numbers are just 00:24:15.009 --> 00:24:17.569 staggering. In 1939, the plant could produce 00:24:17.569 --> 00:24:19.950 about 100 ,000 bars a day. By the end of the 00:24:19.950 --> 00:24:22.509 war, the Hershey plant in Pennsylvania was churning 00:24:22.509 --> 00:24:26.150 out 24 million bars a week. 24 million a week? 00:24:26.309 --> 00:24:28.390 The logistics of that alone are mind -boggling. 00:24:28.450 --> 00:24:30.849 I mean, getting the cocoa, the sugar, the packaging, 00:24:30.950 --> 00:24:34.839 all during wartime rationing. All told, it's 00:24:34.839 --> 00:24:37.480 estimated they produced over three billion ration 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:40.180 D and tropical chocolate bars during the war. 00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:42.019 Wait, hang on. What's the tropical chocolate 00:24:42.019 --> 00:24:44.859 bar? Well, after a year or two of soldiers complaining 00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:47.720 bitterly about the ration D, the army decided 00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:50.740 they could be a little bit nicer. So in 1943, 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:52.640 they commissioned the tropical chocolate bar. 00:24:52.990 --> 00:24:55.450 It was still designed to resist melting and tropical 00:24:55.450 --> 00:24:57.789 heat, but it was formulated to taste somewhat 00:24:57.789 --> 00:24:59.869 better than the ration D. That's a low bar to 00:24:59.869 --> 00:25:02.549 clear, pun absolutely intended. A very low bar. 00:25:02.730 --> 00:25:05.049 But Hershey's contribution wasn't just chocolate. 00:25:05.269 --> 00:25:08.029 The factory's own machine shop, the guys who 00:25:08.029 --> 00:25:09.930 normally maintain the chocolate rollers and wrapping 00:25:09.930 --> 00:25:12.829 machines, was actually converted to make parts 00:25:12.829 --> 00:25:15.309 for tanks and other military hardware. They made 00:25:15.309 --> 00:25:17.890 gun mounts. They made parts for the Navy. It's 00:25:17.890 --> 00:25:20.089 amazing to picture a chocolate factory making 00:25:20.089 --> 00:25:23.150 tank parts. It really just shows the total mobilization 00:25:23.150 --> 00:25:25.869 of the entire country for the war effort. It 00:25:25.869 --> 00:25:28.329 really does. And for all of this, the company 00:25:28.329 --> 00:25:30.809 received five Army -Navy -E production awards 00:25:30.809 --> 00:25:33.990 for excellence in production. And Milton Hershey 00:25:33.990 --> 00:25:35.950 was there for all of it. He was an old man by 00:25:35.950 --> 00:25:38.210 then, but he saw his little caramel company transform 00:25:38.210 --> 00:25:41.569 into a genuine war machine. He did. But as the 00:25:41.569 --> 00:25:44.549 war was ending, so was his life. Yeah. Let's 00:25:44.549 --> 00:25:46.930 talk about the end of that era. He lived a very, 00:25:46.970 --> 00:25:50.710 very long life. He did. He died on October 13th, 00:25:50.710 --> 00:25:55.150 1945. He was 88 years old. And fittingly, I think, 00:25:55.150 --> 00:25:57.650 he died in the very hospital that he had helped 00:25:57.650 --> 00:26:00.650 make possible. In Hershey, Pennsylvania, of course. 00:26:01.009 --> 00:26:03.970 And he was buried in the Hershey Cemetery, the 00:26:03.970 --> 00:26:06.460 one he built and gave the land for. right next 00:26:06.460 --> 00:26:08.079 to his wife, Kitty, and his parents, who had 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:09.980 also been moved there. It's a very poetic end. 00:26:10.059 --> 00:26:12.460 He is literally surrounded by the town and the 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:14.420 community that he built from scratch. And if 00:26:14.420 --> 00:26:16.900 you go there today, there's a statue of him at 00:26:16.900 --> 00:26:19.359 the Milton Hershey School. It's this bronze statue 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:21.319 of Milton with an orphan boy kind of wrapped 00:26:21.319 --> 00:26:24.319 in his arms. Yeah. And the inscription is really 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:27.119 powerful. It says, His deeds are his monument. 00:26:27.339 --> 00:26:30.759 His life is our inspiration. His deeds are his 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:33.099 monument. I like that a lot. He didn't build 00:26:33.099 --> 00:26:35.339 a giant pyramid for himself. He built a school 00:26:35.339 --> 00:26:37.819 and a town. And the recognition continued even 00:26:37.819 --> 00:26:41.519 after his death. In 1995, the U .S. Postal Service 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:44.500 issued a stamp honoring him as a philanthropist. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:47.059 And of course, every year on September 13th, 00:26:47.059 --> 00:26:49.880 his birthday, people all over the world now celebrate 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:52.539 International Chocolate Day. So let's try to 00:26:52.539 --> 00:26:54.279 bring this all together. We've covered the failures, 00:26:54.500 --> 00:26:57.230 the chocolate revolution, the utopian town. The 00:26:57.230 --> 00:26:59.910 Incredible Trust, Titanic, the World War II bars. 00:27:00.470 --> 00:27:02.490 What does this all mean for us today? What's 00:27:02.490 --> 00:27:04.569 the big takeaway? I think the key takeaway, the 00:27:04.569 --> 00:27:06.630 thing that is so unique, is the structure he 00:27:06.630 --> 00:27:09.029 left behind. You know, we live in this era of 00:27:09.029 --> 00:27:11.910 massive wealth accumulation. We see billionaires 00:27:11.910 --> 00:27:14.089 pledging to give their money away, which is great. 00:27:14.289 --> 00:27:17.150 But Hershey didn't just pledge. He structurally 00:27:17.150 --> 00:27:19.710 bound his wealth -generating engine, the company, 00:27:19.809 --> 00:27:22.309 directly to his philanthropic mission, the school. 00:27:22.450 --> 00:27:24.210 Right. It wasn't a one -time check. It was a 00:27:24.210 --> 00:27:27.079 perpetual motion machine for charity. Exactly. 00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:29.500 As long as people around the world eat chocolate, 00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:32.680 the school is funded. And he did this while he 00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:35.940 was still alive. He gave up control of his fortune 00:27:35.940 --> 00:27:38.759 decades before he died. It really comes down 00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:41.400 to that concept of enough. He reached a point 00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:43.700 where he must have said to himself, I have enough. 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:46.019 I have more than I will ever need. Now what can 00:27:46.019 --> 00:27:48.519 this wealth build for someone else? And that's 00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:50.579 the provocative question, isn't it? In a world 00:27:50.579 --> 00:27:52.740 where the goal is so often just endless growth 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:55.140 for the sake of shareholders, the Hershey model 00:27:55.140 --> 00:27:58.779 is a fascinating anomaly. It asks us, what if 00:27:58.779 --> 00:28:01.339 the ultimate shareholder was the community? What 00:28:01.339 --> 00:28:03.680 if the profit motive was harnessed directly for 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:06.339 social good, not just as an afterthought or a 00:28:06.339 --> 00:28:08.630 tax write -off? That is a powerful thought to 00:28:08.630 --> 00:28:10.750 leave on. I guess next time you grab a Hershey 00:28:10.750 --> 00:28:12.990 bar or a Kit Kat or Reese's, you can remember 00:28:12.990 --> 00:28:15.250 you aren't just buying a snack. You're feeding 00:28:15.250 --> 00:28:18.509 a trust that educates thousands of kids. And 00:28:18.509 --> 00:28:20.650 you're validating the dream of a fourth grade 00:28:20.650 --> 00:28:23.269 dropout who just refused to let failure stop 00:28:23.269 --> 00:28:25.849 him. A pretty sweet legacy at the end of the 00:28:25.849 --> 00:28:28.049 day. Thanks for listening to this deep dive. 00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:29.170 We'll see you next time.