Don Vultaggio
Port Washington, New York
High School Graduate, High School
United States
10
AriZona Beverages, Self Made
$3,500,000,000
715
1
#715 Billionaires 2019
#259 Forbes 400 2018
Arizona Beverages cofounder Don Vultaggio has built his fortune one 99-cent tallboy can of iced tea at a time.He got his start in the 1970s selling beer and soda from the back of an old van in Brooklyn's toughest neighborhoods, where others refused to go.In 1992 he went into iced tea, launching Arizona from a Brooklyn warehouse and quickly toppling the competition with taller cans and flashier labels.Arizona sells some 3 billion containers of tea, juice, water and alcoholic drinks annually, including its popular green tea and Arnold Palmer lines.In 2015 he was ordered to buy out his former friend and partner, John Ferolito, for about $1 billion to settle a lengthy, bitter shareholder dispute.
Arizona's flamboyant, Southwest-themed packaging was inspired by his Queens home, which stood out thanks to white and turquoise stucco and a cactus garden out front.Vultaggio often wallpapers offices himself and, on his birthday, throws a pajama party where he cooks pancakes and omelets for his entire 300-person office staff.
67
2
Add a review