Ernest J. Gallo (March 18, 1909March 6, 2007) was an American businessman and philanthropist. Gallo co-founded the
E & J Gallo Winery
E & J Gallo Winery is a winery and distributor headquartered in Modesto, California. It was
founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo, and is the largest exporter of California wines. E & J Gallo Winery is the largest family-owned wine ...
in
Modesto, California
Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...
.
Early life
Gallo was born on March 18, 1909, in
Jackson, California
Jackson (formerly, Botilleas, Botilleas Spring, Bottileas, Bottle Spring, and Botellas) is a city in and the county seat of Amador County, California. Its population was 4,651 at the 2010 census, up from 3,989 at the 2000 census. The city is acc ...
.
[Harvard Business School](_blank)
/ref>
last retrieved March 6, 2007
Gallo's grandparents immigrated from Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
to the United States. Gallo's father was Giuseppe Gallo, a.k.a. Joseph Edward Gallo Sr, and his mother, Assunta Bianco Gallo, a.k.a. Susie Bianco Gallo. Together with his uncle Michael, his father ran the Gallo Wine Company, a wine distribution company. His mother's family, the Biancos, were winemakers. Gallo's father operated a boarding house for the miners in Jackson, California and a saloon in Oakland, California.
In 1910, at one year old, Gallo lived with his maternal grandparents, Batista Biancos, in Hanford, California. At about age 6, Gallo returned to live with his parents.
After the 1918 prohibition, Gallo's father had to close the saloon business. Gallo's father bought a 120-acre ranch in Antioch, California and became a farmer growing 30 acres of grapes. Gallo worked in cultivating in the farm. By age 12, Gallo's father sold the ranch in Antioch and moved to a small vineyard in Escalon, California.
In the 1920s, his parents purchased a 40-acre farm near Modesto, California
Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...
. Gallo's family also bought a 20-acre farm near Keyes. Gallo's father sold their grapes in Chicago.
Gallo had two brothers, Julio Gallo
Julio Gallo (March 21, 1910 – May 2, 1993) was one of two of the founders of the E & J Gallo Winery.
Biography
He was born on March 21, 1910, in Oakland, California to Joseph Gallo, Sr. He had two brothers: his partner in the wine business, Er ...
(1910–1993), and Joseph Edward Gallo
Joseph Edward Gallo (September 11, 1919 – February 17, 2007) was an American businessman, brother of Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo, and owner of Joseph Gallo Farms, a producer of cheeses.
Biography
He was born on September 11, 1919, in Antioch, ...
, Jr. (1919–2007).
On June 21, 1933, Gallo's father shot his mother and killed himself.
Gallo graduated from Modesto High School
Modesto High School is a public high school in Modesto, California, United States. It offers the International Baccalaureate Program and the Avid program, Performing Arts Program and was the first public school to do so in the Central Valley of ...
in Modesto, California
Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...
.[''#645 Ernest Gallo''](_blank)
/ref>
Education
Gallo attended Modesto Junior College
Modesto Junior College (MJC) is a public community college in Modesto, California. It is part of Yosemite Community College District along with Columbia College. MJC, and Columbia College, belong to the California Community College system al ...
, but he did not graduate.
Career
In 1926 at 17, Gallo worked for his father. Gallo harvested grapes and shipped them via railway to Chicago. By 18, Gallo was selling grapes in Chicago. During Gallo's travel from Chicago back to California, he met Giuseppe Franzia.
In 1933, shortly after the end of prohibition and the death of his parents, Gallo co-founded the E.&J. Gallo Winery, using $5,900 in borrowed cash from his mother-in-law. He became head of sales, marketing and distribution.
Philanthropy
In 1955, Gallo created The Ernest Gallo Foundation.
In 2008, Gallo donated $800k(USD) to the University of Notre Dame, $600k(USD) to Stanford University, and $3.835 million (USD) to Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health. In 1980, Gallo also donated millions and created Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center in Emeryville, California
Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The resident population was 12,905 as o ...
, at University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...
.
Awards
*1989 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...
* 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award (given by
Wine Enthusiast)
Personal life
In 1931, Gallo married
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
Amelia Franzia (died 1993). They had two sons: David Gallo (died 1997), and Joseph Ernest Gallo, the CEO of the E&J Gallo Winery.
Gallo was ranked 297th on the 2006 Forbes 400
The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is publ ...
list of billionaires, with an estimated wealth of US$1.2 billion.
On March 6, 2007, Gallo died in Modesto, California
Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...
, twelve days shy of his 98th birthday. Gallo is buried at St. Stanislaus Catholic Cemetery.
Further reading
*
*
References
External links
''E. & J. Gallo Winery''
Gallo Family Vineyards
''Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center''
The Modesto Bee
''The Modesto Bee'' is a California newspaper, founded in 1884 as the ''Daily Evening News'' and published continuously as a daily under a variety of names. Before its purchase by Charles K. McClatchy and McClatchy Newspapers in 1924, it merged ...
**Excerpt of
Ernest_Gallo
''California Wine Industry Oral History Series'', University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
Ernest Gallo at britannica.com
FRONTLINE
Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield.
Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to:
Books and publications
* ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant
* ''Frontlines ...
, PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallo, Ernest
1909 births
2007 deaths
American people of Italian descent
People from Modesto, California
20th-century American businesspeople
Wine merchants
American billionaires
People from Jackson, California
Modesto Junior College alumni
James Beard Foundation Award winners
Gallo family
Burials in California