Sid Craig, the co-founder of Jenny Craig Inc., who along with his wife built one of the most successful weight loss companies in the world, has died. He was 76.
Sid Craig died yesterday in San Diego following a long illness, the company said.
Craig and his wife, Jenny, developed Jenny Craig Inc. in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. The company eventually grew to include 655 weight loss centers in four countries. In 2006, the Craigs sold the Carlsbad, California-based company to Nestle for $600 million.
Craig was born March 22, 1932, in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the mid-1950s, he worked as a part-time instructor at Arthur Murray Dance Studios and later purchased five franchises.
In the 1970s, he bought a stake in a women's figure control salon, Body Contour Inc., and later opened other salons. It was during this period he met Jenny Guidroz Bourcq, who worked as director of operations for the salons. The two later married.
The Craigs sold their stake in Body Contour and moved to Australia, where they opened the first Jenny Craig weight loss center.
