South Carolina textile magnate Roger Milliken, who at one time was ranked among the nation's wealthiest people and helped turn the state's Republican Party into a powerhouse, has died. Company spokesman Richard Dillard says Milliken died Thursday in Spartanburg. A cause of death was not immediately available. He was 95.
Milliken became president of Spartanburg-based Milliken & Co when his father died in 1947 and built the family business into an industry giant. He served as president until 1983, when he became chairman and chief executive. In 2000, Milliken was ranked 338th on the Forbes magazine list of the 400 richest Americans, with an estimated worth of $850 million. He fell off the list by the end of the decade as the American textile industry declined.