Slim-Fast billionaire S. Daniel Abraham dead at 100

S. Daniel Abraham, the entrepreneur who turned a line of meal-replacement shakes into the weight-loss powerhouse Slim-Fast, has died at the age of 100.

His death on June 29 was confirmed by American Friends of Bar-Ilan University, where he had served on the board, according to Bloomberg News.

Abraham, whose net worth was estimated at $2.4 billion by Forbes, made his fortune after introducing the powder-based diet product in 1977.

SlimFast, mixed with low-fat milk, was marketed as a meal substitute and quickly gained popularity, thanks in part to endorsements from public figures like former New York City Mayor Ed Koch and Major League Baseball manager Tommy Lasorda.

“It’s your life. Feed it right,” the company’s slogan read. Another campaign promised, “Give us a week, we’ll take off the weight.”

The product line still exists today under the name SlimFast, though it has struggled in recent years amid the rise of pharmaceutical weight-loss drugs.

Abraham was also a significant political donor and philanthropist. He co-founded the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace in 1989 and was a major supporter of the Democratic Party.

A 2020 report by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies ranked him as the 15th most active political donor among American billionaires, with nearly $22 million in contributions to federal candidates and political groups, almost entirely to Democrats.

Born on Aug. 15, 1924, in Long Beach, NY, Abraham served in the US Army during World War II.

He began his business career in the 1940s by joining his father in selling over-the-counter remedies such as itch relievers and throat soothers. Together with his father, he acquired Thompson Medical Co., the maker of the anti-itch ointment San-Cura.

Abraham took the company public in 1979 and later took it private again in the late 1980s.

“I knew these products worked, and, just as important, I knew that these maladies were so common that they would generate repeat sales,” he wrote in his memoir.

Before Slim-Fast, Abraham had success with Dexatrim, an appetite suppressant that reached $50 million in sales in 1979.

The product later came under scrutiny when the FDA raised health concerns in 2000 about its key ingredient, phenylpropanolamine, which has been associated with increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke.

By that time, Dexatrim was owned by Chattem Inc., which changed the formula. NVE Pharmaceuticals acquired the product in 2014.

The concept behind Slim-Fast emerged from the 1970s trend favoring high-protein shakes over solid food. Abraham marketed it as a complete program whereby users would drink Slim-Fast for breakfast, lunch and a snack, and then eat a “sensible” dinner, for a daily total of 1,500 calories.

In the 1990s, he expanded the Slim-Fast brand to include frozen entrees, snacks and other diet products. Sales grew approximately 20% annually, reaching $611 million in 1999 with $125 million in profit.

The brand’s profile skyrocketed in 1989 when Dodgers players Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson challenged their manager, Tommy Lasorda, to lose weight for charity.

Abraham offered Lasorda $20,000 for his chosen charity just to meet and discuss using Slim-Fast. Lasorda took on the challenge with the high-fiber version, Ultra Slim-Fast, and lost more than 30 pounds in three months.

He became a television spokesman, famously declaring, “If I can do it, you can do it.”

Sales tripled to $300 million almost overnight.

In 2000, Unilever acquired Slim-Fast Foods for $2.3 billion. However, under Unilever’s ownership, US sales declined 40% between 2009 and 2013, according to SymphonyIRI Group.

In a 2013 Consumer Reports ranking, Slim-Fast placed last in overall satisfaction among do-it-yourself diet plans.

Abraham expressed frustration with the brand’s decline, telling Bloomberg News in 2013: “Unilever is sleeping on it. If I still owned it, it would not be that way. I would be fighting harder. It’s a damn shame.”

At the time, Unilever stated that investments and “exciting changes” were planned for the product.

Kainos Capital bought the brand from Unilever in 2014 for an undisclosed amount, with Unilever retaining a minority stake. In 2018, Kainos sold Slim-Fast to Ireland-based Glanbia Plc for $350 million. Glanbia put the brand up for sale again in February.

Abraham had four daughters with his first wife, Estanne, before their marriage ended in divorce. He later married Ewa, with whom he had a son and a daughter.