Despite the chaos and turmoil going on in the markets right now, Rockstar Energy Drink's founder Russ Weiner is cashing out, and making a fortune doing it. Rockstar has been sold to Pepsi Co for 3.85 Billion Dollars.
Weiner was quoted as saying "It shows the American Dream is still alive and well. It shows Pepsi has faith in the future and they believe in what we created. It is a bright light in the middle of this hellstorm."
It's also a hell of a lot of cash for Weiner who owns 85% of Rockstar. With this deal Weiner is worth about 3.9 Billion, however capitol gains taxes will lower that by about 900 million once this huge deal closes. PepsiCo will also give Weiner about 700 million of their future tax benefits associated with the deal payable over the next 15 years.
Rockstar currently has a distribution agreement with PepsiCo in North America and has since 2009, and they currently sell Rockstar in 30 countries worldwide. Weiner says the deal will turn Rockstar into an even larger "Global Powerhouse".
Weiner started Rockstar with just $50,000 of his own money. After testing over 700 varieties, Weiner drove around San Francisco in an old limo painted with the Rockstar logo to promote the brand new energy drink.
Prior to launching Rockstar, Weiner followed in the footsteps of his pops, talk radio host Michael Savage, running for California State Assembly in 1998. After losing the race his campaign caught the eye of his fathers buddy Sky Vodka founder Maurice Kanbar who hired him. Weiner suggested that Skyy develop an energy drink, however after having that idea shotdown, Weiner quit to launch his own energy drink company, and as you can see it worked out pretty well.
No comments:
Post a Comment