James Leprino

James Gerald Leprino was born in Denver, Colorado on November 22, 1937. He was the youngest of five sons of Mike Leprino Sr., who emigrated from Italy in 1914, aged 16, settled in Denver, and was a farm worker before starting a grocery store Leprino & Sons in 1950 in Denver's Little Italy. They made handmade ricotta, ravioli and a type of mozzarella known as scamorza. ==Career==

After graduating from high school in 1956, he worked full-time with his father, but due to pressure from large grocery chains, his father's store closed in 1958. James hung out at local pizza stores with friends and saw how much cheese they went through and believed it could be a good business. In October 2017, his net worth was estimated by Forbes at US$3.1 billion. The nieces requested Leprino Foods be dissolved and its assets be distributed among all shareholders. A Colorado judge ruled out dismantlement of the company, but their claims of inequitable treatment could go forward. ==Personal life and death==

Leprino was married with two children. He resided in Indian Hills, Colorado. It is unknown where he died or what cause. ==Political lobbying and support==

From 1990 to 2017, Leprino Foods contributed $1,521,894 to political lobbying, with 75 to 80 percent of Leprino's political contributions going to Republicans. ==References==