James “Jim” G. Leprino, the Colorado-born billionaire who built the largest mozzarella cheese supplier in the world, died on Thursday, according to the company. He was 88.
Leprino was born in Denver in 1937, and came from a tight-knit Italian community. His father, Mike Sr. immigrated from Potenza, Italy in 1950 and opened a corner grocery store at 38th and Shoshone Streets.
The family business began by making ricotta and scamorza cheese by hand but grew over time into the Leprino Foods Co…