Day: September 13, 2025

• Cofounder of the company behind AriZona iced tea, Don Vultaggio, is worth nearly $6 billion.
• Unlike other billionaires, including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, Vultaggio never went to college.
• He attributes his success to giving customers service and value and treating employees like family.

In an era when American billionaires are minted in Silicon Valley and fortunes are built on algorithms and artificial intelligence, Don Vultaggio stands out.

With a net worth of nearly $6 billion, the 73-year-old cofounder of Arizona Beverage USA made his billions largely by selling $0.99 cans of iced tea that have become as iconic as they are affordable.

Unlike ultrawealthy university alums, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett, Vultaggio never went to college. In fact, he said he probably wouldn’t have finished high school if his mother hadn’t stepped in.

“I wasn’t a good student, but it wasn’t the school’s fault. It was my fault, and it worked out for me, but sometimes it doesn’t work out,” Vultaggio told Business Insider’s Emily Christian during a recent interview at AriZonaLand in Keasbey, New Jersey.

Vultaggio said that mentorship, not formal education, laid the foundation for his career.

Vultaggio’s mentors were his first boss and his father

When he was a teenager, still in school, Vultaggio said he began working for his first boss at a Brooklyn grocery store, earning $1 per hour. “That guy gave me the experience of being a business person,” he said. The job taught Vultaggio the value of $1 and how long an hour can last.

When that boss died a few years ago, the family sent his ashes to Vultaggio. “He’s buried in my backyard, and a plaque there that says ‘World’s greatest boss.'”

After graduating from high school, Vultaggio was still working in grocery stores, just like his father, who’d been in the business his entire career. “He said, I don’t want my son in the supermarket business,” Vultaggio recalled. “So he got me a job at a local brewery.”

A couple of years later, the brewery closed, teaching Vultaggio an important lesson in business: “I always say that when businesses fail, they forgot what the customer wanted,” he said, “It was a brand of beer that was popular at a point but then lost its popularity.”

For about the next 20 years, Vultaggio ran his own multibrand beer-distributing business that he grew from the ground up. “I went to tough neighborhoods in New York and brought beer to bodegas in the city.”

He said it worked out because, while his beers weren’t the cheapest, he gave his customers service and value when they needed it — a trait that served him well when he finally co-founded Arizona Beverage USA, aka AriZona, with John Ferolito in 1992.

Trusting his instincts

“When I first started the brand, I didn’t know anything about iced tea other than I drank it when I was a kid. I didn’t know how to develop it, source it, how to make it — all that sort of thing, but I learned on the job,” Vultaggio said.

What he did know going in was how customers shopped for beverages because he’d seen it firsthand countless times in the stores and shops he’d delivered to for so many years.

“Consumers made a decision right at the cooler. It didn’t matter what they saw yesterday on television on a commercial. They made a decision right there, and a price sign motivated that decision,” he said.

Those instincts eventually led Vultaggio, in 1997, to do what one of his salesmen said was the dumbest idea he’d ever had: print “99¢” right on his iced tea tallboys.

“Since I didn’t have the resources to compete with Coke and Pepsi on advertising, I said I’ve got to have a can that jumps out of the cooler,” Vultaggio said.

By 2000, sales were up 30%, he told The New York Times. Today, AriZona is one of the leading ready-to-drink tea marketers in the US, selling about 2 billion cans a year and generating $4 billion in sales, according to Forbes.

While its tallboys are the company’s claim to fame, it also sells gallon-sized jugs and smaller plastic bottles of its teas, juice cocktails, and energy drinks.

Vultaggio’s success

Vultaggio attributes his success to a few things.

“When somebody lays their hard-earned dollar on a table and gets a can of tea or juice, and they say, ‘Wow, that’s a good deal.’ I’ve now secured that customer.”

Initially, what set AriZona beverages apart was its large 24-ounce cans, decorated in colorful designs that Vultaggio’s wife created, selling at the same price as its competitors’ smaller bottles. Today, it’s the fact that the company hasn’t raised the $0.99 price on its big cans in 33 years, despite inflation and price hikes by other leading brands, including Nestlé, Lipton, and Snapple. The company has, however, reduced the size of its big cans to 22 fluid ounces.

Not everything’s been smooth sailing. Vultaggio spent about a decade in a bitter legal dispute with his former business partner, Ferolito, who wanted to sell his stake in the company. Vultaggio eventually bought out Ferolito’s stake for a reported $1 billion in 2015.

Owning the company is a big part of why he’s managed to keep costs down, even during the pandemic when transportation costs increased. “We own everything; we can afford to hold the line. We didn’t have some bank or some board of directors or some stockholders saying, ‘What are you doing?'” he said.

Meanwhile, Vultaggio’s net worth has nearly doubled from $3 billion in 2018 to nearly $6 billion in 2025, according to Forbes.

Despite his immense wealth, Vultaggio still describes himself as a “regular guy.” From forklift drivers to executives, Vultaggio says he believes in running a business like a community where people treat each other with respect.

“That’s why we’re successful,” he said. “Not just me. A lot of people, thousands of people, all contributing on a regular basis. I tell people, you have to run a business like it’s a family.”

• My mom was diagnosed with cancer and dementia around the same time.
• Since she was there for me throughout my life, I wanted to be there for her at the end of hers.
• I flew to Georgia often to be with her, and I was there when she died.

Last summer, I received a call from my mother with devastating news. She had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. My world crashed, and I wept.

It brought back painful memories of my first wife, who had been diagnosed with cancer and died almost a year after the diagnosis at the age of 25.

So when I heard the dreaded word, only the worst-case scenario ran through my mind. How far advanced was it? How long did she have to live? The thought of losing my mother to cancer, when three years before I had lost my dad, felt like my world was coming to an end. I wasn’t present when my dad died in 2022 at the age of 86. I didn’t want to have that regret again.

Then, more bad news came around February 2025: She was diagnosed with dementia.

I knew I had to be by my mom’s side as much as possible as she began her journey of treating cancer and living with dementia.

Her love was constant and knew no bounds

Since I lived in Arizona and my mom lived in Georgia, I knew I had to spend as much time as I could with her. When I travelled for work, instead of heading back home to Arizona, I would head to Georgia and spend time with her.

From July 2024 to July 2025, I spent a week or two every month by my mom’s side, giving her the presence and attention that she had so freely and lovingly given me all my life.

As I spent time with her, I would reminisce about all the important events that my mom attended during my life. She never missed any of my graduations — from middle school to high school to college, and even my Army boot camp graduation. My mom had always been there for me.

She had even been there for me in not-so-joyful moments, such as the death of my first wife in 2001. She didn’t hesitate to be by my side and immediately flew from Georgia to New York, where I lived at the time.

I realized that spending as much time with her was not just about helping her with my presence during this difficult time; it was about honoring her for all the times that she had been there for me.

A scenic train ride and a lasting memory

When I reminisced, one of the best memories I had with my mom was in 2021. She had always wanted to ride the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. I made that wish come true, and we took a memorable two-hour round trip.

During our two-hour layover before the return trip, we explored the towns of McCaysville and Copperhill, had a bite to eat, and enjoyed each other’s company. It was the only trip we had taken together as mother and adult son.

Mom thoroughly enjoyed the train ride. She smiled all the way — there and back.

This moment with my mom meant so much to me because it brought her joy to see a wish come true, and I was able to honor her with a simple yet meaningful gesture.

Watching my mom fade was painful, but being there meant everything

But spending time with my mom and reminiscing didn’t alleviate the pain of watching my mom fade. In early July, the medical professionals informed me that cancer had spread and that my mom only had weeks to live.

In the final weeks, I flew back to Georgia to be by my mom’s side — and to support my sister, who was the primary caretaker.

Watching my mom succumb to cancer was excruciating. Every morning when I would wake up, I would walk up to my mom’s bed, say good morning, and kiss her on the forehead.

Two weeks after I arrived for the final time to be next to mom, I held her hand and told her I loved her. She gave her final breath and passed.

I will cherish that moment forever — that I was able to be present and carry her memory for the rest of my life.