José "Pepe" Fanjul
Born
José Francisco Fanjul y Gómez-Mena

1944 (age 78–79)
Havana, Cuba
NationalityCuban, American
Alma materVillanova University
New York University
OccupationSugar baron
SpouseEmilia May Fanjul
Parent(s)Alfonso Fanjul Sr.
Lillian Rosa Gomez-Mena
RelativesAlfonso Fanjul Jr. (brother)
José Gómez-Mena (grandfather)
Norberto Azqueta Sr. (brother-in-law)

José Francisco "Pepe" Fanjul (born 1944) is a Cuban-born businessman. He is the second eldest of the Fanjul brothers, who control a sugar and real estate business valued at US$8.2 billion.[1] Pepe Fanjul is often criticized[2] as the Fanjul brother that most often donates to the Republican Party[3] seeking political favors, and in particular, seeking to ensure the continuation of the governmental price support of sugar that the Fanjul family company, Domino Sugar, most directly benefits from.[3]

Early life

Fanjul is the second son of Alfonso Fanjul Sr. and his wife Lillian Rosa Gomez-Mena.[4] He received a bachelor's degree from Villanova University, and an MBA from New York University (NYU).[5]

Career

Fanjul is the vice chairman and president of Flo-Sun, a Fanjul family-owned sugar growing and refining company, and of Florida Crystals.[6]

Political interests

Fanjul is a longstanding supporter of Republican politicians, one of the largest contributors to George W. Bush, a leading patron of Marco Rubio, and has co-hosted a large fundraiser for Donald Trump.[7] His brother Alfonso Fanjul Jr. has been a leading Democrat supporter since at least 1992, and was co-chair of Bill Clinton's Florida campaign.[7]

He and his brother, Alfy Fanjul Jr., both hold Spanish and American passports. They are close friends of the ex-King Juan Carlos and have stated on various occasions that they would be willing to receive the exiled king as a guest in any of their mansions around the world.[8]

Personal life

He is married to Emilia May Fanjul, and they live in Palm Beach, Florida.[9] They also own an apartment at 960 Fifth Avenue, New York City.[5]

In 2002, the New York Times reported that Fanjul had "considered" leaving his wife for socialite Nina Griscom, with whom he had a "celebrated affair" (and who was married to plastic surgeon Daniel Baker) but had "changed his mind".[10][11][12]

In 2002, their daughter Emilia Helena Fanjul married Brian C. Pfeifler, executive director managing private client accounts at Morgan Stanley, son of Brian D. Pfeifler of Gulf Stream, Florida.[6][13]

Criticism

Swedish author and historian of ideas, Johan Norberg commented in his book The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World published in 2023 that:

Among the most successful American welfare queens are the brothers Alfonso and José Fanjul in Florida, who receive around $65 million in subsidies for their sugar empire annually. They use part of that money to buy political support for a continued stream of subsidies in their direction. The best that can be said about them is that they don't contribute to political polarization. During the irreconcilable presidential election campaign in 2016, the Fanjul brothers protected themselves by holding one fundraiser for Trump and one for Clinton.[14]

In 2010, Fanjul refused to fire his executive assistant, the long-time white nationalist Chloe Hardin Black,[15] who was married first to David Duke, the former national leader of the Ku Klux Klan and "America’s most well-known racist and anti-Semite",[16] and then to Don Black, another former Ku Klux Klan leader and member of the American Nazi Party, who runs the hateful neo-Nazi, white supremacist and Holocaust denial Stormfront Internet forum, the premier site for white supremacists in the world. The website is believed to be at least partly supported by the salary that Florida Crystals, the Fanjuls' sugar conglomerate, paid Chloe Black.[17][18][19]

References

  1. ↑ "These Sugar Barons Built an $8 Billion Fortune With Washington's Help". Bloomberg. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  2. ↑ "A sweet deal: The royal family of cane benefits from political giving". america.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  3. 1 2 "In the Kingdom of Big Sugar". Vanity Fair. 2011-01-05. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  4. ↑ Brenner, Marie (5 January 2011). "In the Kingdom of Big Sugar". vanityfair.com. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Board approved: Who lives at 960 Fifth Avenue?". llnyc.com. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Emilia Fanjul, Brian C. Pfeifler". The New York Times. 24 March 2002. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Meet the Sugar Barons Who Used Both Sides of American Politics to Get Billions in Subsidies -". promarket.org. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "La colecta de Juan Carlos entre sus amigos ricos para pagar: los Fanjul, los Albertos, Peter Dubens..." El Español (in Spanish). 2021-02-27. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  9. ↑ York, Tom Leonard in New. "Sugar baron robbed of jewellery worth millions". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Why Few Big Breakups Make the Grade". The New York Times. 25 August 2002. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  11. ↑ BAUM, GERALDINE (21 October 2002). "He's rich in tales of high society". Archived from the original on 3 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2017 – via LA Times.
  12. ↑ Staff, WWD (30 October 2002). "Suzy". wwd.com. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  13. ↑ McGrath, Maggie. "Brian Pfeifler Eschews Concierge Wealth Management In Favor Of Getting Clients Into Uber, Palantir". forbes.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  14. ↑ Norberg, Johan (2023). The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World. Atlantic Books Ltd. p. 140. ISBN 978 1 83895 7896.
  15. ↑ Stormfront Founder's Wife Fronts for Minority School August 29, 2008
  16. ↑ "David Duke" (PDF). Anti-Defamation League. 2013 [c. 2009]. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 25, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  17. ↑ Heidi Beirich (July 28, 2008). "Stormfront Founder's Wife Sets Off Firestorm". Splcenter.org. Archived from the original on August 5, 2008.
  18. ↑ John Lantigua (July 26, 2008). "Local organizer, other supremacists say Obama's run boosts their cause". The Palm Beach Post. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011.
  19. ↑ Wtf: The Socialite's Nazi Publicist Archived July 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. gawker.com. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
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