Rodney Cyril Sacks (born 1949) is a South African

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

businessman, chairman, and CEO of

Monster Beverage Monster Beverage Corporation is an American beverage company that manufactures energy drinks including Monster Energy, Relentless (drink), Relentless and Burn (energy drink), Burn. The company was originally founded as Hansen's in 1935 in Southe ...

since 1990.

Early life

Rodney Cyril Sacks was born into a Lithuanian-Jewish family, he grew up in South Africa. His brother was art collector Leslie Sacks. He was educated at

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

in Johannesburg and graduated with a law degree as well as a postgraduate higher diploma in tax law.

Career

Sacks worked as a lawyer in South Africa, and was the youngest person to be made a partner of Werksmans, the country's largest corporate law firm. In August 1989, Sacks emigrated to California with his family, having spent nearly 20 years with Werksmans and rising to become a senior partner. In 1990, a consortium led by Sacks and his fellow South African, Hilton Schlosberg, acquired Hansen Natural Corporation, which in 1992 acquired Hansen's Natural Soda and Apple Juice for $14.5 million. Since 1990, Sacks has been chairman and CEO of Hansen Natural Corporation, which changed its name to Monster Beverage Corporation in 2012.

Personal life

Sacks and his family emigrated from South Africa to California in 1989. His sister Caron Sacks is married to Israeli politician

Ze'ev Bielski Ze'ev Bielski ( he, זאב בילסקי, born 13 March 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima between 2009 and 2013. He previously chaired the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization and worked as ...

,One Long House: Wolfe Sacks
retrieved April 29, 2015 and is the mother of actress Adi Bielski. He is a supporter of

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) (in he, ארגון ידידי צה״ל בארה״ב) is an organization established in 1981 dedicated to the men and women serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), wounded veterans, and the familie ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacks, Rodney 1950 births Living people American billionaires Rodney South African billionaires