Marjorie Merriweather Post

Marjorie Merriweather Post (born March 15, 1887, Springfield, Illinois, U.S.—died September 12, 1973, Washington, D.C.) became one of the wealthiest women in the United States after inheriting her father’s company, Postum Cereal Co. Ltd., and transforming it into the General Foods Corporation. Post’s social life, philanthropy, and opulent lifestyle were the subject of much media attention until her death in 1973. Her Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, would again make headlines in the 21st century under the ownership of Donald Trump. Another of her grand estates, Hillwood in Washington, D.C., is now a museum for her extensive art collection.

The family business

Marjorie Merriweather Post was the only child born to C.W. Post, a farm machinery salesman, and Ella Letitia Post (née Merriweather). In 1891, when she was four years old, her family moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, so that her father could be treated at the Battle Creek Sanitarium after suffering from nervous breakdowns. There, John Harvey Kellogg served patients novel breakfast cereals and coffee alternatives, inspiring Post’s father to experiment with food manufacturing. He created Postum, Post Toasties, and Grape-Nuts. The three breakfast products were the foundation of the Postum Cereal Company, which was started in 1895 and soon earned millions. He began taking his 10-year-old daughter to company board meetings, tutoring her in the inner workings of the corporate world.

Post eventually moved with her father to Washington, D.C., where she attended Mount Vernon Seminary and College. She graduated in 1904 at age 17. By that point, having owned stock in her father’s company since childhood, Post had amassed an individual fortune that she spent extravagantly. In 1905 she married New York lawyer Edward B. Close in a much-publicized ceremony before moving to Greenwich, Connecticut. She had two daughters with Close: Adelaide, born in 1908, and Eleanor, born in 1909. In 1914 Post’s father died by suicide, leaving the family business to both his daughter and second wife. Post disputed the will, resulting in an out-of-court settlement in which her stepmother sold her shares. Post then stepped into full ownership of Postum.

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A lavish lifestyle, a growing company, and more marriages

During World War I, Post funded a massive shipment of medical supplies to France, beginning what would be a long philanthropic relationship with the American Red Cross. In 1917 Post volunteered with the Red Cross in New York City to roll bandages and host fundraisers. Her civic activities that year also included meeting Pres. Woodrow Wilson as part of a delegation that advocated for women’s suffrage.

Post and Close divorced in 1919. The following year she married stockbroker Edward F. Hutton, who took over operations of Postum Cereal. The couple had one daughter, Nedenia (born in 1923), who would become a movie star using the stage name Dina Merrill. Under Hutton and Post, the company went public in 1922, with Post retaining majority ownership. They acquired other food brands as they expanded over the years, including Jell-O, Maxwell House coffee, and Log Cabin maple syrup. Post also pushed to buy Clarence Birdseye’s frozen foods company, then an innovator in flash freezing. The line of frozen products became a great success.

In 1929 Postum was renamed General Foods. By then construction was complete on Post’s Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago, a 114-room mansion decorated with Spanish tiles dating to the 15th century. By the beginning of the 1930s, Post, wielding an enormous fortune, was the owner of several opulent properties, including Mar-a-Lago; an Old English estate on Long Island, New York, with gardens and a Tudor mansion; a 54-room apartment in New York City; and Camp Topridge, a 68-building retreat with two boathouses in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. She also owned the Merriweather, which was the world’s largest private plane, and the Sea Cloud, the largest seafaring yacht.

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During the Great Depression, Post set aside part of her fortune to aid the unemployed and led charity drives for the Salvation Army and a New York state unemployment relief committee. In 1935 Post and Hutton divorced after a long, contentious period. Later that year she married lawyer Joseph E. Davies, who was soon appointed ambassador to the Soviet Union. While living in Moscow, Post’s appreciation for the Russian decorative arts grew, and she began collecting pieces that she brought back to the United States. She was also a noted Francophile and owned jewelry once belonging to Napoleon and Marie-Antoinette.

In 1955 Post bought Hillwood Estate in Washington, where she housed much of her art collection and developed elaborate gardens. Also that year Post and Davies divorced. She married her fourth husband, industrialist Herbert A. May, in 1958. The couple divorced in 1964. Post continued living a lavish lifestyle into the latter half of the 20th century, as if the Gilded Age had never ended. She threw extravagant dinner parties at which guests dined with the finest china and silverware, sometimes eating the frozen food Post helped popularize. She also continued to donate to charitable causes, and a number of buildings and programs retain her name. Post died in 1973 at age 86 after a long illness. In 1977 Hillwood was opened to the public, allowing visitors to stroll the gardens and view Post’s art collection.

At the time of her death, Post’s net worth was estimated at $250 million. Adjusted for 2025 inflation, the figure would equal nearly $1.8 billion.