Lipton, Sir Thomas J

Lipton, Sir Thomas J(ohnstone)

(born May 10, 1850, Glasgow, Scot.—died Oct. 2, 1931, London, Eng.) British merchant who built the Lipton tea empire. He opened a small grocery in Glasgow that grew into a chain of retail shops throughout Britain. To supply his shops cheaply, Lipton bought tea, coffee, and cocoa plantations in Ceylon as well as English fruit farms, jam factories, and bakeries. In 1898 his business was organized into Lipton, Ltd.; he was knighted the same year and made a baronet in 1902. A keen yachtsman, he raced his Shamrock yachts five times unsuccessfully for the America's Cup.