Dick Yuengling jr., When Dick Yuengling Jr. began working for his family's brewery in 1958, some of the older workers there advised him to find a different job because they did not think the brewery was going to be in business very much longer.It's a good thing he didn't listen to them.
Yuengling, who owns D.G. Yuengling and Son brewery in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, made this year's list of billionaires compiled by Forbes Magazine and published Monday.
According to Forbes, Yuengling's net worth is $1.3 billion, ranking him #1107 on the annual list of billionaires. He comes in at #359 in the United States.
Yuengling, 69, is the fifth-generation owner of the company, having bought it from his father in 1985.
"The company stubbornly remains private, despite steep competition and frequent acquisitions in the beer industry," according to an article on Forbes.com. "Sole-owner Yuengling has turned down offers from all the major players and vows never to sell. In a 1996 Forbes story, he scoffed at the idea of adding a partner, noting: 'I couldn't even get along with my own father.'"
When Yuengling bought out his dad in 1985, revenues were only $6 million and the company counted barrels sold by the thousands, according to Forbes. Today, the company brews more than 2.5 million barrels of
beer a year and pulls in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues.
The company's Pottsville brewery holds the title of America's oldest brewery, and with Budweiser, Miller and Coors all being owned by foreign companies, Yuengling is also the largest American-owned brewer.
"Yuengling favors measured growth - the company is only in 14 states so far - over incurring debt, and he would rather wear jeans and drive an old car than sell out and flaunt his wealth," the Forbes article says.
Being named to the billionaire list is a far cry for Yuengling, who started working at the brewery when he was 15 years old. Back then, the company was not as nearly as successful as it is today.
"I remember the girls in the office - they worked for my grandfather, and they would say, 'You better find something else to do because we're barely getting by here,'" he said in a November interview with the Lebanon Daily News.
Things began turning around when Yuengling introduce its Traditional Amber Lager in 1987. "Lager," as it is simply known, has gone on to become the brewery's flagship brand. The company makes a total of seven year-round and two seasonal beers.
Overall, there are 1,426 billionaires on the Forbes list with a combined net worth of $5.4 trillion. Both of those numbers are all-time highs.
The list is headed by Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim Helu, who is worth an estimated $73 billion. Microsoft founder Bill Gates is second at $67 billion.
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