The Washington Post profiles C. Dean Metropoulos, the billionaire investor responsible for the nostalgia-driven returns of brands like Pabst Blue Ribbon and Twinkies, and the hard-partying sons he puts in charge.
Dubbed “Mr. Shelf Space” for his dominance of the lucrative American grocery aisles, he has, over three decades, revived brands as distinct as Bumble Bee, Duncan Hines, Vlasic, Ghirardelli, Hungry-Man and Chef Boyardee. His masterstroke: as the savior who last year rescued Twinkies from the trash bin of history.
Yet Metropoulos’s Pabst deal was different in one important way. To lead the beer giant, he tapped his sons, who, unlike their decorous father, were known largely for their fast-talking, party-boy gloss: Daren, 31, who bought an $18 million mansion from Hugh Hefner, and Evan, 33, who a decade ago told a New York Times reporter, “I’ve been with more chicks than any fat guy you know, except Pavarotti.”
Meet the Twinkie-saving, beer-selling billionaire who has changed the way you eat [Washington Post | Drew Harwell]