K-J founder richer than Oprah, Forbes list says
October 21, 2000
By TED APPEL
Press Democrat Staff Writer
The wine boom has now created its first billionaire: Jess Stonestreet Jackson, who started with a small vineyard in Lake County and built a wine empire headquartered in Santa Rosa that produces premium wine around the world.
Jackson, founder of Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, is one of the 400 richest people in America, according to a yearly list published last week by Forbes magazine.
With an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion, Jackson debuted at No. 223 on Forbes' list of the super-wealthy, beating out junk bond king Michael Milken, talk show magnate Oprah Winfrey, Disney chief executive Michael Eisner and Jackson's archrival in the wine business, Ernest Gallo.
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- Skinny 10-30-2000 12:41 pm