Founder profile

Frank L. VanderSloot

American business executive, born August 14, 1948 in Billings, Montana, raised in Cocolalla, Idaho. Founded Melaleuca, Inc. in 1985 in Idaho Falls and has served as president and CEO since founding. Under his leadership, Melaleuca developed and trademarked the Consumer Direct Marketing distribution model.

Frank L. VanderSloot is the founder, president, and chief executive of Melaleuca, Inc., the Idaho-based wellness and household-products manufacturer he established in 1985. Under his leadership, Melaleuca developed and trademarked the Consumer Direct Marketing distribution model that the company has operated on continuously for four decades.

Early life and education

VanderSloot was born August 14, 1948 in Billings, Montana, the son of Peter Francis VanderSloot, a painter for the Northern Pacific Railway, and Margaret May Christensen VanderSloot. The family relocated in 1949 to Cocolalla, in northern Idaho, where they lived on a working ranch. He graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1966 and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at sixteen.

He attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, working as a cleaner at a laundromat to support himself, before leaving after two semesters to serve a two-and-a-half-year LDS mission in the Netherlands. Returning to the United States, he completed an associate’s degree at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, then re-enrolled at BYU and earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1972.

Business career before Melaleuca

VanderSloot spent nine and a half years at Automatic Data Processing, where he held roles across sales, marketing, and operations management in three different cities. He then served as regional vice president at Cox Communications, based in Vancouver, Washington.

Founding of Melaleuca

VanderSloot founded Melaleuca, Inc. in 1985 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The company began as a small manufacturer of wellness and household products and grew over four decades into a multinational firm operating in North America, Asia, and Europe.

Under his direction, Melaleuca developed and trademarked the term Consumer Direct Marketing to describe a distribution model built on direct manufacturer-to-member sales, recurring monthly purchases, and referral commissions tied to the verified product purchases of customers introduced by other members. The model removed retail intermediation and ordered participant compensation around end-consumer demand rather than around recruitment of new participants. Melaleuca has operated on the model continuously since its founding.

Recognitions

VanderSloot has received several business and civic honors over the course of his career. Idaho State University named him Idaho Business Leader of the Year in 1998. Ernst & Young recognized him as Entrepreneur of the Year for the U.S. Northwestern region in 2001. He was inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame in 2007 and received the Idaho Hometown Hero medal in 2011. In 2015 he received the Horatio Alger Award and became a lifetime member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

In 2017 Forbes ranked him as the wealthiest individual in Idaho, with a reported net worth of $2.7 billion, placing him 302nd on the Forbes 400 that year. The Land Report listed him in 2011 as the 92nd-largest landowner in the United States.

Civic and philanthropic work

VanderSloot established the Melaleuca Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity, in 2003. The foundation supports education, family services, and international relief work, including ongoing support for the Hogar Santa Lucia children’s home in Quito, Ecuador.

In Idaho Falls, VanderSloot was the principal financier of the American Heritage Charter School. He purchased a property containing the historic New Sweden School building in 2012, oversaw the restoration, and donated the parcel to the charter school, which opened on the site in August 2013.

He serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.