Jimmy Buffett Won’t ‘Apologize for Being a Good Businessman’ as He Celebrates His $1.5 Billion Margaritaville Empire
Music touches everyone differently. Although Jimmy Buffett’s brand of island-inspired rock might not be to everyone’s taste, the singer-songwriter has made a wildly successful brand out of hits like “Margaritaville.”
While some critics might balk at Buffett’s shameless efforts to build on his music career, the artist himself refuses to apologize for how he’s cashed in on his reputation.
Jimmy Buffett reveals his inspiration for starting Margaritaville
Buffett wasn’t always so synonymous with island-lounging and tropical drinks. But the singer admitted to The Washington Post in 1998 that he was inspired to expand his brand after he saw people doing just that without his consent:
“I kept seeing people in Key West walking around selling airbrushed Jimmy Buffett T-shirts. Not only were they ripping me off, they were misspelling my name. So I went to a friend of mine … and I said, ‘We can do this better.’ If anybody’s making money off my name, it ought to be us. At least we can put out a decent product.
So we went and gathered the lumber for the first store from what we found under her house. Literally. And we hired one carpenter and built the first store ourselves. That’s really the way it started.”
That’s how Buffett’s first store, aptly called Margaritaville, came to be. His business ventures have only grown from there. Buffett even had to sue companies like Chi-Chi’s restaurants to secure trademarks to use his own song titles in businesses like his now-defunct chain of Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurants.
Buffett refuses to apologize for his business acumen
Some critics might accuse Buffett of being a hypocrite. After all, his music often touts the value in the simple things in life. But the singer behind such tunes is hardly the minimalist in real life, at least financially. But Buffett has no regrets about how he’s conducted his business.
“I’m not about to apologize for being a good businessman,” he told the Washington Post. “Too many people in music have ruined their lives because they weren’t. I’m not a great singer, and I’m only a so-so guitar player. I started running the band years ago because nobody else could, and I turned out to be good at this stuff. There’s never been any grand plan to this thing. I’m making it up as I go along. … Just trying to work the system while maintaining my ’60s anarchic soul.”
Jimmy Buffett has expanded his Margaritaville brand over the years
Considering he is making it up as he goes, Buffett’s business acumen is even more impressive. The singer not only turned “Margaritaville” into the foundational anthem that led to a store of the same name.
His company, Margaritaville Holdings owns more than 30 hotels and resorts as well as 150 restaurants, bars, and cafes as well as Landshark Lager and Margaritaville Spirits. As a result, Buffett is one of the richest singers in the business. He reportedly carries a net worth of $600 million. All of that from casually noticing others exploiting his brand.
Who’s to say where Buffett would be if he hadn’t turned his music into an empire all its own. Perhaps even “wasting away” on a tropical island somewhere.
