Rod MacArthur attended [[Rollins College]] in [[Florida]] and worked as a [[stringer (journalism)|stringer]] for the [[Associated Press]] in Mexico. During [[World War II]], he joined the [[AFS Intercultural Programs|American Field Service]], serving with the [[French Army]] in the ambulance corps, and he participated in the campaign that liberated [[France]].
He worked for his father in the insurance industry before they became estranged. In 1973, while working with a company that sold ceramic collectable plates, MacArthur noticed that the collectible ceramic-collectable market was chaotic. He started the [[Bradford Exchange]]., and Byby the time of his death, it sold about 90% percent of all the collectable plates in the world. Often credited with becoming "a self-made millionaire," MacArthur did have some financial backing from his father., Thebut the concept, business plan and effort behind the Bradford Exchange were Rod MacArthur's own.
In 1975, once the exchangebusiness had become successful, hisMacArthur's father claimed that the Bradford Exchange was ''his'' business, seizing the Bradford Exchange'sits customer lists and putting the on-hand inventory under lock and key. J. RoderickRod MacArthur then organized a group of employees to enter his father's warehouse in Northbrook, Illinois, and hustledhustle the inventory into a waiting fleet of trucks. He re-establishedreestablished histhe business away from his father.
