Chuck Bundrant, the founder of the lucrative business Trident Seafoods, passed away on October 17, 2021, at the age of 79. Bundrant, a native Tennessean, leaves an incredible legacy behind. His death has been publicized by top newspapers and magazines such as The New York Times and Forbes.
Charles Hardin Bundrant was born on January 31,1942, in Lawrenceburg, TN. His father, Charles Lawson Bundrant, and his mother, Algie May (Hill) Bundrant, were Waynesboro natives. They raised their children in Evansville, Indiana. After their retirement, they returned to Waynesboro.
After completing high school, Chuck Bundrant enrolled at Middle Tennessee State University for one year before dropping out and venturing to the Pacific Northwest. He originally planned to be a veterinarian. He had no idea he would move on to be one of the most successful entrepreneurs in United States’ history.
Mr. Bundrant got his first experience at a seafood company at nineteen years old when he joined three friends on a summer road trip to Seattle. In Seattle, he and his pals worked at a seafood cannery to make money for school. However, Mr. Bundrant never returned to school. He instead used his earnings to move to Alaska and purchase a crab boat. He used the income from his crab boat to found Trident with two business partners in 1973.
According to The New York Times, “Mr. Bundrant developed close ties with senators from Alaska and Washington State. In 1998, he used those connections to push legislation that drove foreign fishing companies out of American waters and imposed quotas on commercial fishing, bringing order, and immense profit, to the industry.”
One of Mr. Bundrant’s most notable accomplishments was introducing pollock into the fast food industry. Before he came along, fast food executives did not realize how similar pollock and cod tasted. The flaky white fish, previously classified as a “trash fish”, is nearly indistinguishable from its popular relative. After Bundrant signed a multimillion-dollar contract to supply Long John Silver’s with pollock, other fast food giants switched to pollock due to dwindling cod stocks and skyrocketing prices.
Mr. Bundrant was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2006. In 2013, he named his son, Joe, his replacement as chief executive of Trident. However, Mr. Bundrant remained as chairman of the board until his passing. Today, Trident’s sales are estimated at approximately $4 billion. Mr. Bundrant’s personal fortune was estimated at approximately $1.3 billion.
We tend to overlook, or simply be unaware of, people with Wayne County roots who go on to be hugely successful in life. Mr. Bundrant was indeed one of those people.
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