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Bob Moore, founder of Bob’s Red Mill, died at home on February 10, 2024, at age 94. He and his wife, Charlee, opened the mill in Milwaukie, Oregon, in 1978. His business legacy includes creating an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2010; the company says it completed the transition to 100% employee ownership in 2020.
Who was Bob Moore?
Robert Gene Moore was born in Portland, Oregon, on February 15, 1929, according to Bob’s Red Mill’s official history. The company says that in 1968, while living in Redding, California, Moore found the book John Goffe’s Mill at a public library. The encounter helped inspire his pursuit of milling.
In 1974, Bob and Charlee Moore and two of their sons opened Moores’ Flour Mill in Redding. That was a separate business from Bob’s Red Mill, which the couple opened four years later in Milwaukie, Oregon. The company’s account credits Charlee with inspiring the family’s focus on whole foods and helping establish the early store.
How Bob’s Red Mill grew
The company’s history says the original store and mill burned in 1988 in what it describes as suspected arson. Milling resumed at a larger facility in 1989. The company’s products include oats and flour, among other whole-grain foods, according to its About Us page.
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Moore described the purpose behind the company in its founders’ story: “My life’s purpose has been building and maintaining a company that provides healthy whole grain foods to folks around the world—and offers financial security to its employees.”
Why employee ownership became central to his legacy
Moore announced an ESOP on his 81st birthday in 2010. An ESOP is a structure through which employees can acquire an ownership stake in a company. Bob’s Red Mill says it completed the transition to 100% employee ownership in 2020; its employee-ownership page describes that milestone.
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Moore retired as CEO in 2018 but remained on the board until his death, according to The Washington Post and the company’s memorial announcement. In that 2024 announcement, Bob’s Red Mill reported more than 700 employee owners and sales in more than 70 countries. Those are company-reported figures from the announcement, not independently audited current totals.
CEO Trey Winthrop said in the memorial announcement: “Bob’s legacy will live on forever in all of us who had the opportunity to work with him and is infused into the Bob’s Red Mill brand.”
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When did Bob Moore die, and what was the cause?
Bob’s Red Mill announced that Moore died at home on February 10, 2024, aged 94. The Washington Post independently reported the same date and age. The company did not state a cause of death, and the newspaper reported that a company spokeswoman did not provide one; no cause has been established in those accounts.
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