Milton Snavely Hershey: King Of Chocolate

Success is not the absence of failure and the Milton Snavely Hershey story is concrete proof of this aphorism: he had a string of successive failures and only one success, the formation of Hershey Chocolate. His failures were so striking and so devastating his friends and family lost all confidence in his ability and judgment. They withdrew their financial and other support. Hershey never lost his confidence or determination to succeed. He persevered with his vision and love for making confectionery products, refusing to capitulate to the harshest criticism. His success with milk chocolate and sweets and the development of North America's largest chocolate company with sales now approaching 5 billion, is a metaphor for his warm, amiable and gentle spirit upon which he built a philanthropic empire of foundations, hospitals, a city and orphanages. Hershey was the antithesis of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. He was altruistic because he cared; he was successful because he loved what he did. He was ethical, skilled and highly admired. Award-winning author Daniel Alef relates Hershey's heart-warming story and the characteristics and qualities on which success in business and in life are born. [1,435-word Titans of Fortune article]