Jess Jackson's legacy(2)
Even as he assembled his empires in the worlds of wine and horses, Jackson was taking steps to seamlessly pass on his holdings to his heirs.
“When I die, there will be nothing in my name,” Jackson said in a 1995 interview with The Press Democrat.
Across the wine industry, many analysts expect the flagship Kendall-Jackson brand and his other wineries will carry forward without a stumble.
“As a good attorney, and a good pragmatist, he anticipated his death,” said David Freed, chairman of Silverado Premium Partners, a Napa vineyard investment firm. “I think you are going to see a very smooth transition.”
Visionary, micromanager
Jackson was a formidable competitor. He was both a broad visionary, who saw opportunities that others missed, and a detail-minded micromanager, intimately involved in making decisions on everything from wine blends to marketing campaigns. The combination draws comparisons to executives such as Steve Jobs at Apple who have intertwined their personalities so deeply into their companies that they become synonymous.
Now, some wine industry insiders wonder about the company's long-term culture without his presence and the difficulties of keeping family members unified as a corporate team.
Company executives respond that Jackson built his ethos into the structure of the company, maintaining the various wine brands as separate operations with distinct vineyards and managers. These guiding principles will shape decisions and growth for decades, if not centuries, to come, they said.
“What Jess has put in place is a very decentralized group of wineries,” Hartford said. “Jess put in place a structure to last.”
