John Mackey
The Whole Foods Market co-founder inspiring conscious capitalism
As the co-founder of Whole Foods Market, John Mackey is a leading authority on the Conscious Capitalism Movement. With his faith in free market principles, John is passionate about challenging business leaders to rethink their brands’ purpose in the interdependent global marketplace, and to inspire conscious ways of doing business.
Founded in 1978, Whole Foods Market began as a single organic grocery store in Austin, Texas. Since then, John has grown the organisation into a Fortune 500 company valued at $13 billion. It is a leading global supermarket chain with over 370 stores and 80,000 employees around the world.
Fortune Magazine included Whole Foods Market in their “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for 16 years straight and named the brand the "Number One Most Admired Food and Drug Store Company in the World" in 2012. Whole Foods Market continues to be the leading example of ethical business in the contemporary age.
Under John’s leadership, Whole Foods Market has implemented many successful programs to fulfill its mission of conscious capitalism. He founded Whole Planet Foundation to help end poverty in developing countries, and later launched the Local Producer Loan Program to help local farmers expand their production. He also advocated for higher standards for the humane treatment of farm animals with the Global Animal Partnership program, and also inspired the Health Starts Here initiative to promote health and wellbeing among their customers and employees.
In 2006, John reduced his pay to $1, and continues to work closely with Whole Foods Market to help the company realise its full potential.
As a leading expert on conscious capitalism, John recently co-authored the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling book “Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business”, in which he re-defined capitalism and encouraged business leaders to prioritise ethics and conscious capitalism.
John has been recognised with a range of achievements, including Ernst&Young’s United States Entrepreneur of the Year, Institutional Investor’s Best CEO in America, Barron’s World’s Best CEO, MarketWatch’s CEO of the Year, Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year, and Esquire’s Most Inspiring CEO.
As a keynote speaker, John draws on years of experience as a successful business leader to deliver highly engaging and motivational presentations. He is passionate about inspiring business leaders to reinvent their professional purpose with conscious capitalism in mind.