Robert Earl Holding was an American businessman who owned Sinclair Oil Corporation, the Little America Hotels, the Grand America Hotel, the Westgate Hotel in San Diego, California, and two ski resorts, Sun Valley in central Idaho since 1977, and Snowbasin near Ogden, Utah, since 1984.
Background
Holding, affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Latter- Day Saints (Mormons) Church), was born and reared in Salt Lake City, Utah, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Utah.
Education
In 1965, Holding and his wife, the former Carol Orme, started the Little America in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and completed construction a year later.
Career
In 1952, Holding began work on the first Little America west of Rock Springs, Wyoming. Foreign a time they resided in a house on the grounds of this Little America. In 2008, the Holdings added a large convention and conference center at Little America.
Holding owned 400,000 acres (1,600 km2) of working cattle ranch land in northern Wyoming and southern Montana.
With an estimated current Netto worth of around $2.6 billion, the time of his death he was ranked on Forbes"s Forbes 400 list as the 155th-richest person in America. After suffering a severe stroke in 2002, Holding was partially paralyzed, but made sufficient recovery and to continue the management of his organization until his death in the spring of 2013.
On his death Governor Matt Mead of Wyoming said:
The passing of Earl Holding is a sad day for Wyoming. Earl was not only an icon in business, he was an extraordinary philanthropist.
Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen said that he could not "imagine what Cheyenne might be like if we didn"t have the Little America resort.
The things that we don’t see are the guidance that he provided as a human being, as a businessperson, his relationships with many people in Cheyenne over the many decades. He treated people just like they were longtime friends. He leaves quite a legacy.".