Don vastaggio Never Went to College and Is Worth Billions; Here’s how – ryan

In an era when American billionaires are minted in silicon Valley and fortunes are built on algorithms and artificial intelligence, don vastaggio stands out.

With a net Worth of Nearly $ 6 BillionThe 73-Yaar-Old Cofounder of Arizona Beverage USA MADE HIS BILLIONS LARGELY BY SELLING $ 0.99 CANS OF ICED TEH THAT BECOME AS ICONIC AFFORDable.

Unlike Ultrawealthy University Alums, Including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett, Vastaggio Never Went to College. In fact, he said he probably wouldn’t have finished high school if his mother’s mother has stepped.

“I wasn’t a good student, but it was washn’t the school’s fault. It was my fault, and it working out for me, buttimes it doesn’t work out,” vastaggio told business insists Emily During at ArizonaLand in Keasbey.

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

Vultaggio’s mentors were his first boss and his fater

When he was a teenager, Still in School, vastaggio Said he began working for his first boss at a brooklyn store, Earning $ 1 per hour. “That Guy Gave with The Experience of Being A Business Person,” he Said. The Job Tought vastaggio the value of $ 1 and How Long an Hour Can Last.

Be that boss died a few years ago, the family sent his ashes to vastaggio. “He’s Buried in My Backyard, and a Plaque there says ‘World’s Greatest Boss.’”

After graduating from High School, vultaggio was still working in griory story, just like his faother, who’d been in the business his Career. “He Said, I don’t want my son in the Supermarket Business,” vastaggio recalled. “So he got with a jab at a Local Brewery.”

A Couple of Years late, The Brewery Closed, Teaching vastaggio an important lesson in business: “I always say that we can have fail, they forgot what the customer wanted,” he was a brand of beer.

For About the Next 20 Years, vultaggio Ran His Own Multibrand Beer-Distribution Business that he great from the Ground up. “I were to tough neighBorhoods in new york and brought beer to bodygas in the city.”

He Said It Workhed Out Becausee, while His Beers Weeren’t the Cheapest, He Gave his Customers Service and Value Needed it-a trait that served Him well he finally co-founded Arizona USA, AKA Arizona, with John Ferololo in 1992.

Trusting His Instincts

“When I First Started the Brand, I didn’t know anything about iced tea other than i was a kid.

What he did know going in was how how do Customers shopped for beverags he’d seen it firstand countless times in the storys and shops he’d delivered to so many years.

“CONSUMERS MADE A DECISION RIGHT AT THE COUK. IT DIDN’T MATTER WHAT SAW YESTERDAY ON TELEVISION ON A Commercial. They made a decision right, and a price motivated that decision,” he said.

Those instincts eventually led vastaggio, in 1997, to do what one of his his saida was the dumbest idea he’d ever had: print “99 ¢” right on his telboys.

“SINCE I DIDN’T HAVE the resources to compete with coke and pepsi on advertising, i said i’ve to have a can that jumps out of the cooler,” vastaggio said.

By 2000, Sales were up 30%, he told The New York Times. Today, Arizona is one of the Leading Ready-to-Dink Tea Marketers in the US, SElling About 2 Billion A Year and Generating $ 4 Billion in Sales, Acciting to Forbes.

While itils its are the company’s CLAIM to FAME, IT ALSO SELLS GALLON-SIZED JUSS AND SMALLER PLANTles of Its Teas, Juice Cocktails, and Energy Drinks.

Vultaggio’s success

Vastaggio attributes his success to a few things.

“When someone lays their hard-earned dollar on a table and gets a Can of Tea or Juice, and They Say, ‘Wow, that a good deal.’ I’ve the secured that customer. “

Initially, What Set Arizona Beverages aparts it Its Large 24-Once Cans, decorated in colorful designs that vastaggio’s wife created, selling at the suame as it Competitors’ Smaller Bottles. TODAY, IT’S THE FACT THAT THE COMPANY HASN’T RIISDED The $ 0.99 Price on Its Big Cans in 33 Years, Despite Inflation and Price by Other Leading Brands, Including Nestlé, Lipton, and Snapple. The Company Has, Howver, Reduced the Size of Its Big Cans to 22 Fluid Ounces.

Noteryding’s been smooth sailing. Vastaggio spent about a decade In a bitter legal disprophet with my business partner, Ferolo, who wanted to sell his stake in the company. Vultaggio eventually bought out Ferolo’s stake for a reported $ 1 Billion in 2015.

Owning the Company is a Big Part of the Why’s Managed to Keep Costs Down, During the Pandemic We Transportation Costs Increas. “We Own Everything; We Can Afford to Hold the Line. We Didn’t Have Some Bank or Some Board of Directors or Some Soying, ‘What Are You Doing?’ He Said.

Meanwhile, vastaggio’s net Worth has Nearly Double from $ 3 Billion in 2018 to Nearly $ 6 Billion in 2025, Accounting to Forbes.

Despite HisMmense Wealth, Vultaggio Still Describes Himself as “Regular Guy.” From forklift drivers to the executives, vastaggio says he believes in running a business like a community where People other with respectct.

“That’s why we’re successful,” he said. “Not JUST with. A LOT of People, Thousands of People, All Contruting on A Regular Basis. I TELL People, You Have to Run a Business Like it a family.”