Jimmy Buffett‘s path from musical artist to entrepreneurship appeared like a pure pivot.
The “Margaritaville” singer, who died on September 1 on the age of 76 after battling Merkel cell pores and skin most cancers, is remembered for turning hit songs and an island-loving persona right into a full-fledged enterprise.
From the success of the 1977 tune “Margaritaville,” Buffett was impressed to begin his Margaritaville model of merch, eating places, resorts, and extra after the restaurant chain Chi-Chi’s tried to trademark “Margaritaville” as a drink particular, per The Austin Chronicle. Buffett sued and received in 1983, and from then on, Buffett turned the Margaritaville into cash.
The Margaritaville model was born in 1985 and grew from a T-shirt store to the Margaritaville Cafe in Key West in 1987, per Florida At the moment. However Buffett did not cease there. The Margaritaville model has since expanded to inns, casinos, cruises, and even retirement properties.
Hold scrolling for extra particulars about Jimmy Buffett’s entrepreneurship.
Michael Laughlin/South Florida Solar Sentinel/Tribune Information Service through Getty Photographs | Jimmy Buffett performs at Previous Faculty Sq. in Delray Seaside, Florida, on Might 13, 2021. Buffett died Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, at age 76.
What Are Jimmy Buffett’s Companies?
After opening the primary Margaritaville restaurant in Key West in 1987, he went on to open one other at Common Studio’s Metropolis Stroll in Orlando in 1999, per Florida At the moment. He later added inns to his catalog after he licensed his title to a $50 million Florida lodge in 2010 in Pensacola. In 2015, he opened the Margaritaville Hollywood Seaside Resort in Florida and the Margaritaville Trip Membership by Wyndham in St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands.
At the moment, the Margaritaville model contains 31 inns and resorts throughout the U.S. together with Margaritaville Palm Springs, Margaritaville Seaside Resort South Padre Island, and Margaritaville Resort Instances Sq.. He additionally owns a Latitude Margaritaville, a retirement neighborhood with places in Daytona Seaside, Florida, and Hilton Head, South Carolina.
The Margaritaville umbrella additionally boasts a cruise line docked in Palm Seaside, Florida, casinos akin to the Margaritaville On line casino within the Flamingo Resort in Las Vegas, Radio Margaritaville on Sirius XM, a house decor line offered on the Margaritaville web site, and tequila known as Margaritaville offered at retailers like Drizly.
Picture by Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan through Getty Photographs | Margaritaville Resort Instances Sq. “First Look” at Margaritaville Resort Instances Sq. on June 10, 2021 in New York Metropolis.
Buffett’s restaurant holdings embody LandShark Bar & Grill with 17 places throughout Florida and the south, and Cheeseburger in Paradise per Wall Road Journal, the latter of which was offered in 2012 for $11 million and later closed all its doorways in 2020.
He additionally wrote three best-selling books – “Tales from Margaritaville,” “The place Is Joe Service provider?” and a 1998 memoir, “A Pirate Appears to be like at Fifty.
How A lot Did He Make From His Music?
From the success of the 1977 tune “Margaritaville,” which spent 22 weeks on the Billboard chart on the time, and his a number of different hits together with “It is 5 O’Clock Someplace,” and “Son of a Sailor,” Buffett has earned an estimated $570 million from excursions and recording, based on Forbes. His music catalog is value $50 million.
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What Is Jimmy Buffett’s Web Price?
At his time of demise, Buffett was chairman of Margarita Holdings LLC and held a 28 p.c stake within the firm valued at $180 million, per Forbes. He additionally owned $140 million in non-public planes, properties, and shares.
Together with his enterprise property and music income, Buffett earned a spot on Forbes’ Billionaires listing in April. In whole, his internet value is estimated to be round $1 billion.