What is "cargill"

Cargill, Inc. is an American privately held global corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a Minneapolis suburb. Founded in 1865, it is now the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue. If it were a public company, it would rank, as of 2015, number 12 on the Fortune 500, behind McKesson and ahead of AT&T.

Some of Cargill's major businesses are trading, purchasing and distributing grain and other agricultural commodities, such as palm oil; trading in energy, steel and transport; the raising of livestock and production of feed; producing food ingredients such as starch and glucose syrup, vegetable oils and fats for application in processed foods and industrial use. Cargill also operates a large financial services arm, which manages financial risks in the commodity markets for the company. In 2003, it split off a portion of its financial operations into a hedge fund called Black River Asset Management, with about $10 billion of assets and liabilities. It owned 2/3 of the shares of The Mosaic Company (sold off in 2011), one of the world's leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients.

Cargill declared revenues of $136.7 billion and earnings of $2.31 billion in the 2013 fiscal year. Employing over 140,000 employees in 66 countries, it is responsible for 25% of all United States grain exports. The company also supplies about 22% of the US domestic meat market, importing more product from Argentina than any other company and is the largest poultry producer in Thailand. All of the eggs used in McDonald's restaurants in the US pass through Cargill's plants. It is the only producer of Alberger process salt in the US, which is used in the fast-food and prepared food industries.

Cargill remains a family-owned business, as the descendants of the founder (from the Cargill and MacMillan families) own over 90% of the company. As a result, most of its growth has been due to reinvestment of the company's own earnings rather than public financing. Gregory R. Page, who is not part of either the Cargill or MacMillan families, is the executive chairman of Cargill. He succeeded former CEO Warren Staley in mid-2007, as Staley reached Cargill's mandatory retirement age of 65, before he in turn was succeeded by Dave MacLennan.

Cargill is a privately held American multinational corporation.

Cargill may also refer to:

• Cargill (surname)
• Cargill Ltd., one of Canada's largest international agricultural companies
• Cargill's Castle, ruins in New Zealand's southern city of Dunedin
• Cargill's Corner, a major intersection in South Dunedin, New Zealand
• Invercargill, a New Zealand city
• Mount Cargill, a volcanic outcrop in New Zealand
• Cargill, Perthshire, Scotland

Cargill is a surname of Scottish origin. Notable people with the surname include:

• Ann Cargill, an 18th-century British opera diva
• Ansley Cargill, an American tennis player
• Baily Cargill (born 1995), British football (soccer) player
• Cargill Gilston Knott, a pioneer in seismological research
• Colonel Cargill, a fictional character in Joseph Heller's classic novel Catch-22
• Donald Cargill, a Scottish Covenanter
• Edward Cargill, 19th century New Zealand politician
• Henry Cargill, an Ontario farmer, merchant and political figure
• Henson Cargill, a country music singer
• James Cargill (musician) bassist for Broadcast
• James R. Cargill businessman
• Joanna Cargill, a fictional Marvel Comics character
• John Cargill (politician), 19th century New Zealand politician
• Lance Cargill, an American lawyer and Republican politician
• Margaret Anne Cargill, billionaire philanthropist
• Morris Cargill, a white Jamaican lawyer, businessman, planter, journalist and novelist
• O. A. Cargill, a lawyer, author and buffalo rancher
• Patrick Cargill, a British actor
• Peter Cargill, a Jamaican international football player
• Russ Cargill, fictional character, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Head, and antagonist in The Simpsons Movie. Voiced by Albert Brooks.
• Sir John Traill Cargill, Chairman of Burmah Oil Company
• Wellington David Cargill, an Ontario manufacturer and political figure
• William Cargill, founder of the Otago settlement in New Zealand
• William Cargill (Berwick MP) (1813–1894), British Conservative Party politician, MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed 1863–65