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Slideshow
Richest US drinks dynasties
The Forbes family rich list is out, and with just a glance through the list of the top 185, it is clear to see that the term “dynasty” hasn’t escaped the drinks industry.
Seven of America’s richest families have a names at the top of the trade, and here we’ve compiled them for you.
Be they producers who have blossomed from humble roots in the times of the American frontier, or modern-day entrepreneurs who struck gold fast, the following family names help to define the industry.
Credit: Forbes
7. Jackson family – $2.3bn
Jess Stonestreet Jackson (1930-2011) and wife Barbara Banke, both lawyers, co-founded Jackson Family Wines in California in the 1980s, perhaps best know for their Kendall-Jackson wines.
After Jackson died of cancer at age 81 in 2011, Banke became chairman and proprietor. All five of Jackson’s children also hold interests in the company and are active in running it. Don Hartford, husband of daughter Jenny Jackson-Hartford, is CEO.
The family owns 35 vineyards, including nearly 30,000 acres in California, that sell more than 6 million cases of wine a year. The flagship winery is Kendall Jackson in Sonoma County.
6. Coors family – $2.9bn
The Coors family owns over 15% of Molson Coors, a legacy of the brewery Adolph Coors founded 140 years ago after immigrating to Golden, Colorado from Prussia.
Adolph’s great-grandson Peter Coors was CEO of Coors until 2002 and now serves as chairman of MillerCoors, the joint venture between Molson Coors Brewing Company and SABMiller.
His daughter Christien Coors Ficeli serves on the board of Molson Coors and also runs the family’s Napa Valley winery, Goosecross Cellars. Peter’s brother John is in charge of CoorsTek, a ceramics manufacturer business that kept Coors afloat during Prohibition.
5. Wirtz family – $4.2bn
The Wirtz family became famous owning the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks but got rich running a $2.5 billion wine and liquor distributorship.
Arthur Wirtz started a realty company in 1926 and didn’t get into the distributor business until 1945.
Rocky, his son, now controls the family’s business empire – which includes an insurance agency, television network, farm, two regional banks, real estate and the United Centre, in addition to the Blackhawks and distributorship.
4. Reyes family – $8bn
The Reyes brothers run Reyes Holdings, the Chicago-based food and beer distributor.
The company consists of Reyes Beverage Group, the largest beer distributor in the U.S.; Martin-Brower, the largest food distributor to McDonald’s; and food distributor Reinhart Foodservice.
Reyes Holdings got its start when the family purchased a small South Carolina beer distributor for $740,000 in 1976. Christopher and M. Jude Reyes are co-chairs of the company. David “Duke” Reyes is the CEO of Reyes Beverage Group, the largest beer distributor in the U.S. Brothers James and Tom are executives at Reyes Beverage Group and brother William is a director of Reyes Holdings.
3. Gallo family – $9.7bn
In 1933, the two Gallo brothers, Ernest and Julio, started what would become the world’s largest winemaker in a Modesto, Calif. shed. They sold wine for half the going rate of $1 gallon and won wholesalers’ approval.
Ernest (d. 2007) and Julio (d. 1993) would run E&J Gallo Winery for six decades: Julio grew the grapes, and Ernest sold them.
Their children still run the business from the same fertile land in California and recently expanded into liquor with Shellback Rum and Camarena Tequila.
2. Brown family – $11.6bn
Founded in 1870 by George Garvin Brown in Louisville, Kentucky, Brown-Forman has since grown into one of America’s biggest liquor companies.
Brown’s original brand, Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky, was America’s first bottled bourbon. The group’s offerings include Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Southern Comfort and Finlandia Vodkas, brands that have long been a mainstay on bar shelves and in liquor cabinets worldwide.
Brown-Forman is now focusing on premium whiskey brands such as Woodford Reserve.
The Brown family still controls 67% of the publicly traded company, which recorded 2013 revenues of $3.78 billion. The fifth generation remains active, with descendant George Garvin Brown IV serving as chairman.
1. Busch family – $13bn
Founder Adolphus Busch brewed the first nationally popular beer in America in 1876 – Budweiser – selling it across the country until Prohibition, which almost put the company out of business.
Adolphus’ son August Busch Sr. kept the company alive by selling soft drinks and ice cream. When Franklin D. Roosevelt repealed Prohibition, August reportedly sent a 24-beer crate to the White House in celebration.
Unlike the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts and other titans of the gilded age, the Busch family held onto ownership of their company well into the 20th century until August III, Adolphus’ great-grandson, encouraged the family to diversify.
The family sold off an estimated 25% of the company from 1989 to 2008, leaving them powerless to stop the $52 billion buyout that year from Brazilian investors InBev, even though August Busch IV was CEO.