Abstract:
Ron Rice is an Asheville native who went to Florida after college to teach school, coach football, and dabble in oil--suntan oil. His personal worth is estimated at $30 million. He owns Tanning Research Labs, Inc., which employs 3,000 people in fourteen countries. The company generates revenues of over $100 million annually. His empire was built on a popular tanning lotion--Hawaiian Tropic tanning products--which he began mixing in bathtubs and garbage cans. The product now is second only to Coppertone.