LIQUOR
Daniel’s expansion
One of the world’s most famous whiskey-makers is getting a $100 million shot in the arm.
The parent company of Jack Daniel’s announced a $100 million-plus expansion of its Tennessee distillery. The investment by Louisville, Ky.-based Brown-Forman Corp. is the largest single production expansion in the 147-year history of Jack Daniel’s. It will add stills and barrel warehouses and about 90 jobs at the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tenn.
Expansion work will begin this fall and is expected to wrap up within two years.
Overseas demand for American whiskey and bourbon is booming. Jack Daniel’s sales have soared in the past decade as the venerable brand spreads to more countries.
— Bloomberg News
TECH
Marital separation
Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin has separated from his wife, biotech entrepreneur Anne Wojcicki, in a low-key split for one of Silicon Valley’s highest-profile couples.
Brin is one of the world’s wealthiest men and, with Google co-founder Larry Page, one of two controlling shareholders in the giant Internet company. Brin and Wojcicki, both 40, are highly influential figures in the tech industry and also rank among big donors to charity.
Their separation was not widely known until last week, when a spokesperson for the couple confirmed to the San Jose Mercury News: “Anne and Sergey have been living apart for several months. They remain good friends and partners.” The couple has two children.
While neither has filed for divorce, the tech blog All Things D, which first revealed the separation, also reported that unnamed sources said Brin is romantically involved with an unidentified Google employee. Wojcicki’s sister, Susan Wojcicki, is a longtime Google employee and now a senior vice president.
— San Jose Mercury News