The Fanjul Brothers - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Fanjul brothers — Alfonso "Alfy" Fanjul, José "Pepe" Fanjul, Alexander Fanjul, and Andres Fanjul — are owners of Fanjul Corp., a vast sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

and real estate conglomerate in the United States and Dominican Republic, comprising the subsidiaries Domino Sugar

Domino Foods, Inc.

Domino Foods, Inc. is a US company owned by American Sugar Refining Inc. that markets sugar through its brand portfolio: Domino®, C&H®, Florida Crystals®, and Redpath®.-History:...

, Florida Crystals, C&H Sugar, Redpath Sugar

Redpath Sugar

Redpath Sugar was an important company in the economic history of Canada.-History:Redpath Sugar was established as the Canada Sugar Refining Company in 1854 in Montreal, Quebec by Scots-Quebecer entrepreneur, John Redpath . Located on the bank of the Lachine Canal, the giant complex was the first...

, Tate & Lyle European Sugar as well as the airport

La Romana International Airport

La Romana International Airport is located on the southeastern coast of the Dominican Republic, adjacent to the tourist town of La Romana and the resort of Casa de Campo. The airport, which opened in December 2000, is about 68 miles from the capital, Santo Domingo...

and resorts surrounding La Romana in the Dominican Republic.

History

The Fanjul brothers' ancestry is Cuban and they are descendants of the Spaniard Andres Gomez-Mena who immigrated to Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

in the 19th century and built up an empire of sugar mills and property by the time he died in 1910. In 1936, his descendant Lillian Gomez-Mena married Alfonso Fanjul, Sr, the heir of the New York-based sugar companies the Czarnikow Rionda Company and the Cuban Trading Company. The couple's holdings were then combined to create a large business of cane sugar mill

Cane sugar mill

A cane sugar mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw or white sugar.- Processing :Traditionally, sugarcane processing requires two stages. Mills extract raw sugar from freshly harvested cane, and sometimes bleach it to make "mill white" sugar for local consumption...

s, refineries

Sugar refinery

A sugar refinery is a factory which refines raw sugar.Many cane sugar mills produce raw sugar, i.e. sugar with more colour and therefore more impurities than the white sugar which is normally consumed in households and used as an ingredient in soft drinks, cookies and so forth...

, distilleries, and significant amounts of real estate. With Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

's 1959 Marxist Cuban Revolution

Cuban Revolution

The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...

, the family moved to Florida along with other wealthy, dispossessed Cuban families. In 1960, Alfonso Sr., the father of the current CEO of Fanjul Corp. Alfonso Jr., bought 4000 acres (16.2 km²) of property near Lake Okeechobee

Lake Okeechobee

Lake Okeechobee , locally referred to as The Lake or The Big O, is the largest freshwater lake in the state of Florida. It is the seventh largest freshwater lake in the United States and the second largest freshwater lake contained entirely within the lower 48 states...

along with some sugar mills from Louisiana and started over. Alfonso Sr. and his son Alfy Fanjul got the firm off its feet and Pepe, Alexander and Andres joined in the late 1960s and 1970s. Pepe Fanjul Jr. joined the sugar firm in 2002. As of 2008, the company owned 155000 acres (627.3 km²) acres in Palm Beach County.

The brothers also were a focus in the Jamie Johnson documentary The One Percent
The One Percent
The One Percent is a 2006 documentary about the growing wealth gap between America's wealthy elite compared to the overall citizenry. It was created by Jamie Johnson, an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, and produced by Jamie Johnson and Nick Kurzon...

. Which showcases the corrupt use of cane workers and specialy "imported" labor.

Various business holdings and ventures

The Fanjul brothers were large shareholders and directors of Southeast Bank before its takeover and liquidation by the FDIC in 1991. In addition, they are the majority shareholders and directors of FAIC Securities, which was investigated by the S.E.C. for regulatory violations.

External links

Footnotes

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