Brian Maxwell, founder of the multimillion-dollar PowerBar empire and a former world-class marathon runner, has died after suffering a possible heart attack, friends said. He was 51.
He collapsed Friday at a post office and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Mr. Maxwell and his wife, Jennifer, a nutritionist, co-founded the popular energy bar company in 1986 and began selling PowerBars out of their kitchen.
Over the next decade, the company in Berkeley grew to $150 million in sales and 300 employees. In March 2000, the couple sold the company to Nestle SA for a reported $375 million.
Born in London, Mr. Maxwell grew up in Toronto. He represented Canada in many international competitions as a long-distance runner and was part of the 1980 Olympic team that boycotted the Moscow games.
In 1977 he was ranked the No. 3 marathon runner in the world by Track and Field News.
Mr. Maxwell came up with the idea of an energy bar after dropping out of a marathon at the 21-mile mark, about 5 miles short of the finish line–near the point where experts say the body ceases burning carbohydrates and begins burning muscle tissue.
He decided there should be some sort of energy food that athletes could eat before and even during events. So he and his future wife began working with a chemist to come up with a winning formula.
Mr. Maxwell graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1975 with a degree in architecture. He went on to coach distance runners, helping four team members to become NCAA Division I All Americans.
After earning a fortune in the energy food business, Maxwell continued to support the university with large donations. Maxwell Family Field serves as home to UC Berkeley’s hockey, football and lacrosse programs.
He is survived by his wife and five children.
