Patrón president and CEO to retire after 20 years

The president and CEO of Patròn Spirits International and The Patrón Spirits Company, Ed Brown, will retire at the end of this year after nearly 20 years with the company.

Ed Brown

Brown’s departure follows the sale of Patrón to Bacardi in January of this year – a deal worth US$5,1 billion.

The acquisition represented one of the most expensive deals ever made for a spirits brand, and made Bacardi the number one spirits player in the super-premium segment in the US, and the second largest spirits company in market share by value in America.

During his near 20-year career with the company, Brown has overseen Patrón’s growth from 118,000 cases sold in 2001 to more than two million cases sold annually presently.

“It is only fitting that we should describe the career of the man who created the enduring tagline, ‘Simply Perfect’ as nothing short of that,” said Barry Kabalkin, vice chairman of Bacardi Limited and a member of the board of directors of Patrón since 2008 of Brown.

“On behalf of Bacardi and our newest colleagues from Patrón, I would like to offer Ed our heartfelt thanks for building one of the best brands in the spirits world and beyond. We wish Ed all the best on his well-deserved retirement.”

Brown intends to remain engaged post-retirement, providing counsel and expert advice on the Patròn brand, the Tequila category, and the spirits industry as a whole, and will remain a member of the board.

Brown will retire as of 31 December.