Nick Caporella
Plantation, Florida
United States
beverages, Self Made
$2,000,000,000
775
#775 Billionaires 2019
#163 Forbes 400 2018
Nick Caporella, a onetime contractor and the son of a Pennsylvania coal miner, founded National Beverage Co. in 1985. Then the CEO of telecom and cable company Burnup & Sims, Caporella started the soft drinks firm to fend off famed corporate raider Victor Posner.He funded the creation of National Beverage partly using Burnup & Sims stock, diluting Posner's stake until he eventually slunk away.Shares of the Florida-based business have shot up since 2015 thanks to its popular sparkling water, LaCroix, which Caporella acquired in 1996. Other product lines include soda brands Shasta and Faygo.
Caporella got his first taste of success in construction, where he reportedly scraped together $250 for a down payment on a used dragline excavator in 1957.Burnup & Sims acquired his contracting business in 1972, and Caporella was tapped to become the CEO just four years later.
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