Pete Coors

Last updated

Peter Hanson Coors (born September 20, 1946) is an American businessman and politician. He formerly served as the chairman of the Molson Coors Brewing Company and chairman of MillerCoors. [1]

Contents

Coors was the Republican Party nominee in the 2004 United States Senate election in Colorado.

Early life

Coors was born in Golden, Colorado. He is the great-grandson of Adolph Coors, the brewing entrepreneur, and the son of Holly Coors (born Edith Holland Hanson) [2] and Joseph Coors. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and then from Cornell University from which he received a degree in engineering. A member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, Coors was elected to the Sphinx Head Society during his final year at Cornell. He also received his MBA from the University of Denver in 1970.

Career

Coors has worked all of his life in various positions at his family's firm, the Coors Brewing Company.

In 1993, Coors became vice chairman and CEO of the company, and in 2002, he was named chairman of Coors Brewing Company and Adolph Coors Company. In 2004, according to the Rocky Mountain News , Coors "made $332,402 in salary and a $296,917 bonus as chairman of Adolph Coors. He also received 125,000 stock options with a potential value of $13 million". [3] He stepped down temporarily from these positions in 2004 to run for the US Senate. After the 2005 merger with Molson, Coors became a Class A Director in the newly formed Molson Coors Brewing Company. [4]

On May 7, 2018, Coors wrote an open letter criticizing the hostility toward “Big Beer,” i.e., large brewing companies, at a Craft Brewers Conference sponsored by the Brewers Association. “The leadership of the Brewers Association does a great disservice to the entire beer value chain by attempting to pit one part of the industry against another,” he charged. [5]

In a May 14, 2018 opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal , Coors urged President Trump, whom he respects, to put an end to the Midwest Premium, a “mysterious fee” added to aluminum orders in the U.S. “It is time to fix this mess and end the premium once and for all,” he wrote. “A private solution would be best — one crafted by producers, buyers, market makers and customers like Molson Coors. Let us forge a new deal on aluminum, to the benefit of a hundred million fans of the most American of beverages. President Trump, are you with us?” [6]

At the end of 2019, Coors retired from his role as the company's chief customer relations officer. He remains a company ambassador. [7]

Board memberships and other professional activities

In October 2006, he was appointed by the University of Colorado Hospital board of directors as chairman of the board for the new University of Colorado Hospital Foundation.

He has served on the boards of U.S. Bancorp, H. J. Heinz Company, HOBY (Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership) Colorado, and Energy Corp. of America. He is also involved in civic organizations such as the Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the National Western Stock Show Association. He is also part of the ownership group of the Colorado Rockies. [8] He is a member of the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. [9] In 1997, Coors was granted an honorary doctorate from Johnson & Wales University, where he is a trustee. He sits on the board of trustees of the American Enterprise Institute. [10]

Politics

When U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell declared in 2004 that he was retiring, Coors announced his candidacy. His opponent in the Republican primary election was another conservative, former congressman Bob Schaffer. During their primary, the two candidates engaged in an ideological disagreement, with Schaffer attacking Coors because his company had provided benefits to the partners of its gay and lesbian employees, in addition to promoting its beer in gay bars. Coors defended himself by saying that he was opposed to same-sex marriage, and supported a constitutional amendment to ban it, although he noted that he supported civil unions for gay couples. According to the Rocky Mountain News, Coors described his company's pro-LGBT practices as "good business, separate from politics." [3] He defeated Schaffer with 61% of the vote in the primary, with many analysts citing his high name recognition in the state as a primary factor.

Coors faced Democrat and Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar in the November 2004 election, and was defeated by a margin of 51% to 47%. [11]

According to the non-partisan OpenSecrets, Coors gave his own campaign $1,213,657 and received individual donations of $60,550 from other Coors family members. He was mentioned as a possible contender in the 2008 Senate election. [3]

Election results

Colorado U.S. Senate Race 2004
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Ken Salazar 1,081,18851.3
Republican Pete Coors980,66847.4

Coors has been described as “a major donor in Colorado politics.” In 2016, Coors donated $5,000 to Leadership Matters for America, a super PAC supporting the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, and $5,000 to Right to Rise, which supported Jeb Bush. [12]

Personal life

Coors is married to Marilyn Coors (born Grosso) and has six children.

On May 28, 2006, Coors was arrested by the Colorado State Patrol on suspicion of driving under the influence and registering a blood alcohol level higher than the legal limit (0.088). [13] Coors commented on the incident, saying, "I should have planned ahead for a ride. For years, I've advocated the responsible use of our company's products. That's still my message, and our company's message. I am sorry that I didn't follow it myself."

On August 25, 2006, Coors pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving while impaired. A judge sentenced Coors to 24 hours of community service and a suspended fine and ordered him to undergo alcohol education courses.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miller Brewing Company</span> American beer brewery

The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the Miller Brewery at the site of the original Miller Brewing Company complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden, Colorado</span> City in Colorado, United States

Golden is a home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Census. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Founded during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush on June 16, 1859, the mining camp was originally named Golden City in honor of Thomas L. Golden. Golden City served as the capital of the provisional Territory of Jefferson from 1860 to 1861, and capital of the official Territory of Colorado from 1862 to 1867. In 1867, the territorial capital was moved about 12 miles (19 km) east to Denver City. Golden is now a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coors Brewing Company</span> American brewery and beer company

The Coors Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company based in Golden, Colorado that was founded in 1873. In 2005, Adolph Coors Company, the holding company that owned Coors Brewing, merged with Molson, Inc. to become Molson Coors. The first Coors brewery location in Golden, Colorado is the largest single brewing facility operating in the world.

The Molson Brewery is a Canadian-based brewery based in Montreal and was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors.

The Castle Rock Foundation was an American conservative foundation started in 1993 with an endowment of $36.6M from the Adolph Coors Foundation. It ranked as Colorado's 15th largest foundation by assets at the end of 2001. The foundation gathered media attention during Pete Coors' unsuccessful 2004 Senate run, when opponents pointed at the dichotomy between the Coors Brewing Company's attempt to appeal to a broad audience, in particular with minorities and gay customers, while the Castle Rock Foundation was used by the Coors family to fund several conservative initiatives intent on curtailing the rights of these same customers.

Adolph Coors III was the grandson of Adolph Coors and heir to the Coors Brewing Company empire.

Coors may refer to:

Coors Light is a 4.2% (US) ABV light beer brewed in Golden, Colorado; Albany, Georgia; Elkton, Virginia; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was first produced in 1978 by the Coors Brewing Company. The Canadian version of Coors Light is 4.0% ABV and brewed by Molson Coors Canada Inc. in Moncton, New Brunswick; St.John's, Newfoundland; Longueuil, Quebec; Toronto, Ontario and Chilliwack, British Columbia. The parent company is the Molson Coors Beverage Company. In Australia and the United Kingdom, Coors Light is labelled as "Coors."

The Adolph Coors Company was formerly a holding company in Golden, Colorado controlled by the heirs of founder Adolph Coors. Its principal subsidiary was the Coors Brewing Company. The brewery was founded in 1873.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Schaffer</span> American politician (born 1962)

Robert Warren Schaffer is an American businessman and a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Colorado in the 105th Congress and the two succeeding Congresses. Schaffer was co-chairman of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, and an outspoken leader in promoting American interests and human rights in Eastern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Moon (beer)</span> Brand of beer

Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style witbier brewed by Molson Coors under the name the Blue Moon Brewing Co. It was launched in 1995, and was originally brewed in Golden, Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Coors</span> American brewer

William Kistler Coors was an American brewery executive with the Coors Brewing Company. He was affiliated with the company for over 64 years, and was a board member from 1973 to 2003. He was a grandson of Adolph Coors (1847–1929), the company's founder.

Adolph Herman Joseph Coors Sr. was a German-American brewer who founded the Adolph Coors Company in Golden, Colorado, in 1873.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrapin Beer Company</span> American brewery in Athens, Georgia

Terrapin Beer Company is a brewery founded in 2002 by Brian "Spike" Buckowski and John Cochran in Athens, Georgia, United States. In July 2016, Molson Coors announced its majority stake in Terrapin, ending its status as a craft brewery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Coors</span> Chemical engineer, philanthropist, brewer, political think tank founder

Joseph Coors, Sr., was the grandson of brewer Adolph Coors and president of Coors Brewing Company.

MillerCoors was a beer brewing company in the United States. MillerCoors was formed in 2008 as a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors to combine their brewing, marketing and sales operations in the United States. The company was acquired by Molson Coors in 2016. In 2019 it was announced that MillerCoors and Molson Coors Canada would be consolidated into a single business unit under the name Molson Coors North America.

The AC Golden Brewing Company, founded July 11, 2007 by Pete Coors and Glenn Knippenberg, was a subsidiary of MillerCoors, a Division of Molson Coors Brewing Company. Its purpose was to serve as a specialty brewing arm of MillerCoors; in the words of president Glenn Knippenberg, "Our mission for AC Golden is to be a brand incubator for what is now MillerCoors". The AC Golden Brewery operates in the former pilot brewery of the Coors Brewery. It debuted its first beer, Herman Joseph's Private Reserve, in 2008. In April 2010, AC Golden Brewing Company introduced Colorado Native Amber lager in Colorado, a lager made with 100% Colorado ingredients. The Colorado Native family of beers is sold only in Colorado. After Miller was purchased by Molson Coors, MillerCoors was dissolved, and AC Golden Brewing Company became an entity of Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the craft and import division of Molson Coors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 United States Senate election in Colorado</span>

The 2004 United States Senate election in Colorado took place on November 2, 2004 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell decided to retire instead of seeking a third term. Democratic nominee Ken Salazar won the open seat, defeating Republican nominee Pete Coors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molson Coors</span> Multinational beverage and brewing company

Molson Coors is a Canadian-American multinational drink and brewing company headquartered in Chicago, IL with main offices in Golden, Colorado, and Montreal, Quebec.

References

  1. Pankratz, Howard (2011-05-26). "Andrew Molson succeeds Peter H. Coors as Molson Coors chairman". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  2. "Bangor Daily News - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  3. 1 2 3 "Rocky Mountain News - A vital source for news and information in Denver and the Rocky Mountain area". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  4. Molson Coors Leadership Archived 2006-01-09 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Coors Chairman Slams Brewers Association in 'Open Letter'". Brewbound. 2018-05-07. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  6. Coors, Pete (2018-05-14). "In a Trade War, It's Hard to Get a Head". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  7. "Molson Coors CEO Hattersley: Revitalization plan 'will put us on the path to growth'". MillerCoors Behind the Beer. 2019-10-30. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  8. "Front Office Directory". Ownership Group. ColoradoRockies.com. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
  9. Augusta National Golf Club members list, USA Today
  10. American Enterprise Institute Board of Trustees
  11. "CNN.com Election 2004". CNN.
  12. Garcia, Eric (28 June 2016). "Pete Coors Fundraises for Trump". Roll Call. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019.
  13. "Pete Coors apologizes in drunk driving case". Denver Post. 13 July 2006.
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican Party nominee for United States Senator from Colorado (Class 3)
2004
Succeeded by