in 1985 murdock took over the nearly bankrupt hawaiian firm castle & cooke, which owned pineapple and banana producer dole food company. he developed castle & cooke's real estate portfolio into residential and commercial properties and turned dole into the world's largest producer of fruits and vegetables. acquiring dole privately in 2003, murdock completed a $446 million initial public offering in october 2009 and the company traded on the new york stock exchange under the ticker dole until a private merger agreement was approved october 31, 2013. as a result of his purchase of castle & cooke, murdock acquired ownership of 98% of lana'i, the sixth largest island in hawaii. in june 2012 murdock sold his interest in lana'i to larry ellison. he owns other companies, including pacific clay.