00:00Today on Forbes, meet the Florida sugar barons worth $4 billion and getting sweet deals from
00:06Donald Trump. To celebrate Donald Trump's second inauguration earlier this year,
00:12Coca-Cola CEO James Quincy came to Washington with an appropriate symbol of appreciation,
00:18a commemorative edition of the president's favorite beverage, Diet Coke. But the meeting
00:23got a little tense when Trump asked why the company doesn't use cane sugar in its signature
00:28soda, commonly referred to as Mexican Coke. And Quincy demurred, saying that, quote,
00:34there wasn't enough supply. Trump wasn't buying it, according to the book 2024,
00:40How Trump Retook the White House. And soon he called up one of his top political donors and
00:44friend for more than 40 years, Jose Pepe Fanjul, the 81-year-old Palm Beach sugar magnate who lives
00:51near Mar-a-Lago, to ask if the information was true. That conversation appears to have planted the seed
00:57for what transpired in the months following the inauguration, which Fanjul attended after
01:02donating nearly $1 million. Over the summer, when Quincy returned to Washington, Trump brought up the
01:09cane sugar issue again. And then shortly after, he announced on social media that Coca-Cola would
01:14create an entirely new line, saying, quote, this will be a very good move by them. You'll see,
01:20it's just better. Fanjul and his siblings, who control a sugar and real estate empire,
01:26including Domino Sugar and Florida Crystals, that Forbes estimates to be worth some $4 billion,
01:32have been jockeying for the Coca-Cola business ever since. Even as the highly anticipated U.S.
01:38cane sugar line is expected to begin production soon, as Coca-Cola confirmed it would launch this fall,
01:44details of where the Atlanta-based beverage giant will source its U.S. farmed cane sugar remain scant.
01:51Coca-Cola declined to comment. Yet a source familiar with the company's launch told Forbes that Coca-Cola,
01:56quote, is trying to keep this under wraps, but confirmed that the Fanjuls, quote, will be in the
02:02mix. Although it will probably not be an exclusive contract, the Fanjuls are among the best positioned
02:08to take advantage of Coca-Cola's American cane sugar expansion. The Fanjul siblings, co-chairman and
02:15co-CEOs Pepe, who is 81 years old, and Alfonso, who is 88, known as Alfie, as well as Alexander,
02:23who is 75, Andres, who is 67, and Lillian, who is 87, who serve as senior vice presidents and directors
02:30in the family business, are the owners of the largest cane sugar refiner in the world.
02:35The family makes 16% of raw sugar produced in the U.S. through Florida Crystals, which recorded
02:41$5.75 billion in revenue in 2024. In addition to their sugar mills, refineries, and real estate,
02:49the Fanjuls empire also includes the famed Casa de Campo resort in the Dominican Republic.
02:54The Fanjul family, who emigrated to South Florida from Cuba in 1959, following the Fidel Castro-led
03:02revolution in their home country, have long donated to both political parties. They also
03:07have plenty of critics. The Cato Institute's Colin Grebo, who published a 2018 report titled,
03:14Candy-Coated Cartel, It's Time to Kill the U.S. Sugar Program, says that if the Fanjuls represent
03:19the American dream, that's, quote, a pretty cynical take on what the American dream is.
03:25He continues, quote, It's not the classic American story of you get in and you develop cozy connections
03:30with politicians and you try to bend government policy to your will. The American dream is you
03:35succeed based on your inventiveness and your hard work, and not because of your ability to
03:39manipulate government policy. A representative for the Fanjuls responds, quote, The Fanjul family is
03:47grateful for the opportunities that are possible in this country through determination and a strong
03:51work ethic. Their story is the American dream. Pepe remains a prominent figure in Trump's inner
03:59circle. He attended and hosted fundraisers for him during the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns,
04:05and in May 2024, on the day of Trump's conviction in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business
04:10records, he co-hosted a fundraiser for Trump at his luxury co-op on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
04:15In all, the Fanjul family and their companies have given more than $7 million to Trump fundraising
04:22committees and super PACs since 2016. Since 1977, they've spent at least $24 million on federal and
04:30Florida state campaigns and PACs, giving both to Democrats and Republicans, according to data from
04:36the Federal Election Commission and Florida's Department of State. Florida Crystals has also
04:41spent more than $20 million lobbying federal politicians since 1999. For full coverage,
04:49check out Chloe Sorvino and Giacomo Tognini's piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:56Thanks for tuning in.
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