This is Jacqueline Mars. She is 75 years old and is the only granddaughter of Frank Mars, who founded Mars Inc. that company the makes candy like M&M’s and Milky Way bars, among many other candy, as well as Uncle Ben’s Rice, and various pet-foods, among other things. According to Forbes Magazine she is the 3rd richest woman in America with a personal networth of $22.2 BILLION
She is joined by her brothers 83-year old Forrest Mars Jr. and 70-year old John Mars, who are also worth $22.2 BILLION. EACH.
While researching the fatal car accident caused by Alice Walton I also came across this story which I hadn’t heard of before. In October of last years Jacqueline Mars was driving her 2004 Porsche SUV and crashed into a minivan. One of the passengers, 86-year-old Irene Ellisor, was killed.
R.I.P.
The driver of the minivan, Ashley Acker Blakeslee, was 8-months pregnant at the time, but suffered a miscarriage. No drugs or alcohol were found in Jacqueline Mars’ system, and she told officers that she fell asleep at the wheel (the accident occurred at around 2:30pm).
In December Jacqueline Mars plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of reckless driving. She was given a $2,500 fine (no, I haven’t left out any zeroes, that’s two thousand and five hundred dollars) and her license was suspended for 6 months. The Judge said he took into consideration Jacqueline Mars’ previous perfect driving record, the fact that it was determined that Irene Ellisor was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, and that Ellsinor’s family appealed to the judge that they “forgave” Jacqueline Mars.
I have absolutely no knowledge if a HUGE private settlement was reached with the survivors in exchange for their testimony, but I can speculate…
I will say that I only find this slightly less distasteful than the Alice Walton, since unlike Walton, Jacqueline didn’t have history of drunk driving. And she is old. I’ve written before about OLD PEOPLE DRIVING and how I wonder if I’ll know when I’m too old to drive, before I put others at risk?
Still, if someone like ME killed a grandmother and woman’s unborn child, you know I’d be in jail, “accident” or not.
