Seagram’s Old Breed

1986

When Edgar Bronfman Jr took over the family’s Seagram distillation empire from his father, he immediately started making bad decisions. First, he launched Old Breed, convinced that people would love a beer-flavored whiskey. They didn’t. One employee said “Lord, it was awful. It smelled like the carpet at a fraternity on the Sunday morning after a party. And it tasted even worse.”

Edgar later attempted to transform the profitable company into a film and entertainment empire. That idea was even worse than Old Breed and destroyed the company.

Additional info:

New York Post - JR. BLEW $4B OF FAMILY FORTUNE