This Hollywood superstar might be better known for his endorsements of Nespresso but the tequila brand that he co-founded back in 2013 has hit the jackpot. Casamigos is the name of the tequila brand and it has grown in popularity quite steadily over the last four years. Today it was announced that distilling giant Diageo Plc is going to acquire it for a cool $1 billion.
Clooney hits the jackpot
Clooney co-founded Casamigos with Marc Gerber, who is a real estate mogul and Rand Gerber, who owns nightclubs. Initially, the tequila brand was only served to the trio's friends and acquaintances but before long it turned into a viable business.
Eventually, its popularity soared and today Diageo closed a deal worth $1 billion with Clooney and friends. The last few weeks have been particularly great for Clooney, who became a father to twins two weeks back.
London-based Diageo Plc which is the world's second-largest distiller, with a revenue of £15.64 billion ($19.82 billion) has agreed to make a payment of $700 million initially. The remaining $300 million will be paid out to the partners over the course of the next decade depending on how the brand actually performs. Clooney and his partners are going to continue to run the business. Needless to say, george clooney's association with the brand and Diageo's global network is almost surely going to make it a globally recognisable brand.
Clooney's take
For all intents and purposes, it is a remarkable deal but what most people would be more interested in would be the sort of money that Clooney stands to make. According to information gathered by Forbes, the company is owned equally by the three partners and since they did not seek any funding from investors, they get to keep the entire upfront cash payment of $700 million.
As things stand, Clooney is going to take home a cool $233 million before tax and such a payout within four years of starting a business is simply staggering. He will also get $100 million over the course of the next decade if everything goes according to plan. Clooney seemed pleasantly surprised following the completion of the deal and told CNBC as much, "If you asked us four years ago if we had a billion dollar company, I don't think we would have said yes." However, it is important to point out that Clooney's or his partners' initial investment in the company is unknown and hence it is not possible to work out what sort of return they got on their capital.
