Richard Parsons
Richard Parsons is known for being the former CEO of Warner Media, and turning the corporation from over US$29 billion of net debt into the most profitable media company in the world.
After his departure from Time Warner in 2009, he served as chairman of Citigroup after its financial crisis. He was also chairman of CBS in 2018. He recently invested in Celo, a blockchain-based payments platform.
Having experienced the biggest ups and downs in the financial crisis, he can finally gain a peace of mind in his small estate in Italy’s Brunello di Montalcino, Il Palazzone. He purchased the estate in 2000 and completed the winery in 2012.
With 20 acres of Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot vineyards, the estate makes about 18,000 cases of wine a year including Brunello and Super Tuscans from US$50 up to US$200 bottles on restaurant list.
Apart from producing the famous Italian Brunello di Montalcino, he spent five years researching and created the blend Lorenzo & Isabelle in honor of his parents afterwards.
Although he admitted wine is a tough business to make money, he was pleased that he was a part of producing something that is ‘natural, wholesome and quite enjoyable’.
David M Solomon
Solomon is the Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, but his personal life is more fascinating than his job titles. He loves skiing, producing music as DJ ‘D-Sol’ and collecting wine.
Named as “Mr. Gourmet” in 2010 from the Society of Bacchus America for his taste in food and wine, perhaps it was no surprise that the billionairehad a 1000-bottle wine cellar in his Manhattan residence.
His love for wine is more than a dalliance. The CEO is a bona fide oenophile, but it was unceremoniously revealed through a theft.
His personal assistant who spent eight years working with him stole 500 bottles and US$1.2 million worth of rare vintage wine from his wine cellar in the Hamptons.
According to the indictment, the assistant had sold hundreds of bottles to a wine dealer based in North Carolina using the alias ‘Mark Miller’. In October 2016, he sold 7 bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, the most venerated wine estate in the world, worth more than US$133,000, to the dealer.The assistant eventually jumped off from a hotel on the day of his hearing.
Being the gourmand that he is, he also invested in resturants including Charlie Bird in New York. Grant Reynolds, wine director at Charlie Bird, told Bloomberg that Solomon has a taste for aged California Cabernets especially’70s and ’80s Cabernets.
Elon Musk
With a net worth of US$190.3 billion, Elon Musk is best known as the founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
Much known to the world is his revolutionary tech ideas, his relentless working schedule and the occasional controversial tweets, but few knew his taste in wine and spirits.
When it comes to booze, the billionaire once said in interview that his preferred tipple is whisky. His love for wine was however revealed in one of his many controversial tweets.
Describing his perfect day to relax, he wrote: “A little red wine, vintage record, some Ambien … and magic!” The bizarre tweet promoted the drug maker Sanofi to reiterate that Ambien, a sleeping drug, should not be taken with alcohol to avoid increased risks of side effects.
A little red wine, vintage record, some Ambien … and magic!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 7, 2017
Known for working 120 hours a week, Musk’s tweet was actually a throwback of his sharings on how he relaxes after work during an earlier Tesla annual shareholder conference.
Musk’s wine odyssey also led his company SpaceX to ship a large cargo that includes 320 Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vine to space in March 2020.
SpaceX also delivered 12 bottles of Pétrus to the International Space Station in November 2019 in an experiment conducted by Space Cargo Unlimited. The wine was sent back to Earth after 14 months and was auctioned at Christie’s.
Chung Mong-koo
Coming from Korea’s second largest family-run conglomerate Chung Mong-koo was the chairman of Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s largest automaker, for more than 20 years.
He is one of the biggest billionaires in South Korea with a net worth of US$5.6 billion, and is also a self-professed convert for Napa Merlots and Bordeaux.
He once told the Korean Times that he liked Merlots from Napa Valley winery Buccella and reds from Bordeaux second growth Cos d’Estournel. His son-in-law Ted Chung, CEO of Hyundai Card, also admitted his love towards wine. He said he tried new wines all the time which makes it hard for him to pick a favorite.
Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett is known more of a soft drink guy. He was never shy to profess his love for Coco-cola. The Berkshire Hathaway CEO apparently drinks on average five cans a day. Though we don’t know if Buffett’s wine consumption can match his soft drink intake, his support for fine wine as an investment asset has certainly boosted fine wine investment.
Back in 2010, the McLane Co unit of his investor’s insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought Kahn Ventures Inc, a wholesale distributor of distilled spirits, wine and beer in Georgia and North Carolina.
Warren Buffett also invested in Walmart, which sells beers and wine in the states, until 2016 when he sold most of Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in the retail sector.
Koo Bon-moo
Koo Bon-moo passed away in 2018, but he will be remembered as the worldwide famous LG Group Chairman, but for friends close to him perhaps his taste for wines too.
His net worth was US$2.2 billion on Forbes Billionaire List 2018.
He had a private wine cellar filled with more than 10,000 bottles, and he had many favorites.
He would invite guests to his personal cellar in Gwanju, Gyeonggi Province to enjoy some of his best bottles.
A source from LG once told the Korean Times, Koo drank Cabernet Sauvignon from Katnook Odyssey, an Australian winery, for meetings between company executives.
His love towards wine led LG into the wine retail business by establishing LG Twin Wine in 2007. By setting up the wine business, he wanted to raise the interests of his employees and executives in wine and sell high-quality wines to them, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.
Before its closure in 2012, Twin Wine was importing 3,000 different kinds of wine from 30 brands in 12 countries. Unfortunately, the subsidiary was forced to close under pressure in 2012 from the government as big corporations were discouraged from entering industries traditionally occupied by smaller companies.
Jeff Bezos
Just when you think crypto currencies and virtual land are crazy enough, the richest man in the Forbes Billionaire list comes up with virtual wine, and yes, you can taste the wine.
Jeff Bezos is reputable for being the founder and former CEO of Amazon. As of September this year, he is the richest man with a net worth of US$203.8 billion, according to Forbes.
In April this year, Bezos announced in a press conference that he would launch the world’s first entirely virtual wine brand with Eric Emerson Schmidt, the former executive Chairman of Google. In the conference, they introduced the Davos Elite Portfolio of Fine Wines and featured Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley’s To Kalon Vineyard in the first release.
In order to taste the wine, attendees were given a ‘sample’, which consisted of an empty bottle and a pair of virtual reality glasses with aromatherapy technology. They have to scan codes with their phones to experience a virtual tour of the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response cellar and attend the virtual tasting.
Apart from the virtual wine, Amazon launched its online wine marketplace, Amazon Wine, in 2012. In 2017, Amazon partnered with King Vintners in producing the NEXT range at its site in Eugene, Oregon.
The King Estate is the biggest winery in Oregon with its Pinot Gris being ranked as the best in the US. It costs US$20 for the Pinot Gris, US$30 for the Red Blend and US$40 for the Pinot Noir.
Michael Hellbeck
Michael Hellbeck is currently the Managing Director of Standard Chartered Bank in Germany. Back in 2012, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Standard Chartered Bank and Chairman of the Seoul-based Foreign Bankers Group.
Hellbeck is a connoisseur of French style, elegant and understated wine. He preferred Pouilly Fuisses from standout Burgundy house Louis Latour and the Cabernet Sauvignons from Napa Valley brand Clos du Val, reported by the Korean Times.
As there are complicated distribution structures and heavy taxes for wine in Korea, he shared the good thing about living in Seoul in the late 90s. He could buy top-quality wines in an easier way as his wages were paid in dollars when the value of the local currency was sinking.
According to the Korean Times, other wine-loving bankers included former Korea Exchange Bank CEO Yun Yong-ro, Export-Import Bank of Korea former CEO Kim Yong-hwan and HSBC Korea former CEO Matthew Deakin.
When Hana Financial Group acquired Korea Exchange Bank in 2012, Yun was appointed as the CEO of the bank. Commenting on the transition, he compared the bank to a good wine that will require a long time to peak and need to be decanted carefully.
Kim is well-known for his love towards Chilean vintages. Some suggested his extensive wine knowledge was accumulated during his frequent business trips overseas.
Unlike Yun and Kim, Deakin prefers bubbles over still wine and enjoys champagne.
Jack Dorsey
Jack Dorsey, a 44-year-old billionaire with a net worth of US$14.7 billion, is perhaps not the most vinous CEO that comes to mind. But he has been advocating a wine inclusive diet for years.
Serving as the CEO of Twitter and Square, he wants to be performant and clear, and he believed keeping strict diets to maximize his capacity. His diet in each week can go as extreme as going through five days with only one meal, and two days without any food.
He has been promoting veganism, paleo diet and the habit of drinking only red wine and lemon juice.
He revealed in a fitness podcast in 2019 that his five weekly meals consist of “fish, chicken, or steak with a salad, spinach, asparagus or Brussels sprouts…and also [some] red wine.”
Lee Kun-hee
Before passing away in 2020, Lee Kun-hee was the richest Korean tycoon with a net worth of US$17.3 billion. He was the Chairman of Samsung Group who was reputed for transforming Samsung into one of the world’s largest conglomerates.
He was known to enjoy Sine Qua Non B20, a California Syrah, which was the wine of choice for his 70th birthday party at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul in 2011.
Sine Qua Non is one of the most famous producers in California. Unlike most famous California wines based in Napa Valley, most of its vineyards are in Santa Barbara.
With its rare amount of production, the cult wine often comes with the highest price range in the secondary market. A bottle of Sine Qua Non B20 was sold by auction house Christie’s for US$1,348.
Editing by Natalie Wang