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Jimmy Buffett died on Friday. He was 76.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Singer, author, and entrepreneur Jimmy Buffett died on Friday at age 76, leaving a legacy of relaxed vibes and good living. His financial legacy looms just as large.
Buffett built an enormous business empire valued at several hundred million dollars: Margaritaville may have started as a song about living the beach-bum life in the 1970s, but it’s expanded into a portfolio of hotels, merchandise, and even retirement communities. Forbes estimated Buffett had a net worth of $1 billion this year.
Of that $1 billion, just 5% comes from Buffett’s music catalog, which includes the hits “Margaritaville,” “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” Another 56.8% is in cash, which would likely include proceeds from Buffett’s tours, merchandise, musicals, and other public appearances.
Buffett’s brand was so powerful he could use it to market other products—and he profited off of that, too. In the 1980s, he started advertising Corona beer, which at the time was not considered a party-crowd brand. Buffett’s influence, and the millions of dollars that Corona spent on ads, helped lift the brand’s profile among Buffett’s fans.
Of the remainder of Buffett’s fortune, the largest chunk, making up 18%, is in the business Margaritaville Holdings.
On the main section of the company’s website, there’s no headquarters listed. “It’s in the tropics somewhere between the Port of Indecision and Southwest of Disorder, but no parallels of latitude or longitude mark the spot exactly,” the site says. “Where is Margaritaville? It’s in your mind.” (The actual headquarters is in Orlando, Fla.)
The holding company has a wide array of businesses. People can own Margaritaville-themed condominiums, stay at Margaritaville resorts, and even move into Margaritaville retirement communities—advertised as for the “55 and better” crowd. There’s also the Air Margaritaville restaurant chain, which can be found in airports from Detroit to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Margaritaville at Sea cruises people around from Palm Beach, Fla., to the Bahamas.
Separately, Buffett bought a lot of real estate, which was valued at $50 million. That included an estate in St. Barts in the Caribbean and homes in Palm Beach and on Long Island, N.Y.
Buffett had such sharp business acumen that he suspected he might be related to another famous Buffett—the investing legend and
Berkshire Hathaway
CEO Warren Buffett. The two were friends, and even took a DNA test in 2018. Although it turned out they weren’t related, Warren jokingly asked Jimmy to “keep me in his will.”
Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com
