David H. Murdock

Castle & Cooke, Inc and Dole Food Company, Inc. are privately held companies owned by David H. Murdock, who also serves as Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of both companies since 1985. Formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Castle & Cooke and Dole Food Company were acquired by Mr. Murdock in 2000 and 2003, respectively. The food-related businesses operate as Dole Food Company, and all other businesses operate as Castle & Cooke.

Mr. Murdock took the company private in 2000 and merged it with his diverse group of companies and other investments.

Castle & Cooke is primarily involved in real estate development and ownership, transportation equipment leasing, trucking, brick and building materials manufacturing and other investments. The company also owns two of the world's highest-rated resorts and ninety-eight percent of the island of Lanai in Hawai'i, making it the largest privately held island in America.

Among Castle & Cooke's greatest assets are its plentiful land and real estate holdings, much of which can be traced back more than 150 years to when Samuel Northrup Castle and Amos Starr Cooke began their business partnership by operating a general store in Hawai'i. The spirit, vision , integrity and perseverance of these two men sparked the formation of a company that grew to global proportions over the years.

Mr. Murdock's combined companies make up one of the largest privately held companies in America, with approximately 63,000 employees operating in more than 90 countries around the world.

To understand Castle & Cooke today, one needs to chronicle the business career and philosophy of its owner, David H. Murdock.

A self-made man, he spent his formative years in the Midwest and commenced his business career as a builder in Arizona. Taking advantage of the post-war housing boom in Phoenix, he progressed from single-family residential to high-rise commercial real estate development and ownership and related services. When the Arizona real estate market collapsed in the sixties, he moved to California.

Headquartered in Los Angeles since 1968, Mr. Murdock's businesses and investments have continually grown and prospered. Mr. Murdock, a creative thinker and innovative leader, is the first to credit his team for the success the company enjoys today. While still a builder of significant size, the company's major growth can be attributed to the acquisition of publicly traded companies. The Murdock team has acquired many private companies and taken numerous publicly traded companies private, including FCA Industries, Pacific Holding Corporation, International Mining Corporation, Pato Consolidated Mining, Cannon Mills, Continental Group, Flexi-Van Leasing, Castle & Cooke, and Dole Food Company.

Mr. Murdock's approach is to acquire undervalued assets, often in ordinary industries, retain knowledgeable management and find creative ways to operate and utilize assets more effectively.

Sherwood Development Company is a real estate development subsidiary of parent company, Castle & Cooke, Inc located in Thousand Oaks, California.

Sherwood Development Company's parent company Castle & Cooke, Inc. is one of the largest and oldest privately held company's in the U.S. Castle & Cooke, Inc. (acquired in 2000) & its sister company, Dole Food Company (acquired in 2003) were acquired by residential and commercial real estate investor, Mr. David Howard Murdock.

David H Murdock consistently ranks as one of Forbes magazine's top 500 most affluent individuals in the world.