What does Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch have in common with Oprah Winfrey, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, an heiress to Estée Lauder, the co-founder of Uber, and the owner of the NFL’s Washington Football Team?
They’re all ranked at No. 327 on Forbes’ “definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans in 2020.”
Koch made the list of 400 wealthy Americans — combined they are worth $3.2 trillion — for the first time with a reported net worth of more than $2.6 billion. The 71-year-old — whose company makes Samuel Adams, Dogfish Head, Truly Hard Seltzer, Twisted Tea and Angry Orchard hard cider — was also profiled as one of the 18 newcomers to the list.
On Koch, Forbes retold his origin story of homebrewing a beer in the 1980s from a recipe created by his great-great grandfather that would become Samuel Adams Boston Lager.
“In 1995, the company went public as the Boston Beer Company; he owns a 26% stake,” the blurb reads. “While COVID-19 lockdowns dragged on sales of beer to bars and restaurants, folks stuck at home snapped up both its beer and its Truly hard seltzer. Shares more than doubled in value from early January through late July.”
Indeed, Boston Beer stock (SAM) opened the year trading around $371 per share. It closed trading today at $801.12.
Koch isn’t the only person with ties to the beer industry to make the list.
Brothers J. Christopher Reyes and Jude Reyes made the list at No. 199 with a net worth of $5.4 billion. Their company, Reyes Holdings, is the nation’s ninth largest privately held business with $30 billion in sales. Reyes Beer Division is the largest beer distributor in the country, with operations in California, Illinois, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. The company sells more than 229 cases to 91,000 retail accounts each year.
In addition to its beer division, Reyes Holdings also owns Martin Brower, a supply chain provider to restaurant chains in 19 countries; Great Lakes Coca-Cola Bottling, which bottles and distributes Coca-Cola products to retailers in the Midwest; and Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling, which bottles and distributes Coca-Cola products on the west coast.
New Orleans-based Dixie Brewing owner Gayle Benson made the list at No. 249 with a net worth of $3.3 billion, mostly derived from her ownership of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans. Benson inherited her business empire when her husband Tom Benson died in 2018. Earlier this summer, Dixie announced it will change its name to shed the term Dixie’s association with the pre-abolition South.
Brothers Alejandro and Andres Santo Domingo made the list, sharing the No. 299 spot with a shared net worth of $2.9 billion. Alejandro Santo Domingo owns a 1.75% stake in Anheuser-Busch InBev, where he holds a seat on the board of directors. He also helped negotiate the 2016 merger of A-B and SABMiller.
The brothers’ father Julio Mario Santo Domingo had a 15% stake in SABMiller, which he passed down to family members when he died in 2011, according to Forbes.
Also making his debut on the list was Bert “Tito” Beveridge, founder of Austin, Texas-based Tito’s Vodka. Beveridge’s net worth of $4.6 billion landed him at No. 154. Tito’s is one of the fastest growing spirits brands in the country. Beveridge started the company in 1997 with $90,000 borrowed on 19 different credit cards, according to Forbes.