Jim Koch, who first brewed Samuel Adams beer in his home and built a craft beer empire, has a succession plan for when his time as chairman of the Boston Beer Company comes to a close.
Koch will pass control of Boston Beer to his wife, Cynthia Fisher, a healthcare entrepreneur who sits on the company board, the couple told the Wall Street Journal in an article published Wednesday.
“Sam Adams was a brewer and a patriot,” said Fisher, a board member since 2012. “You can look at me as the alewife.”
In this photograph released by Dogfish Head brewery and Samuel Adams, Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione, right, and Samuel Adams’ Jim Koch, left, pose for a picture in Washington on June 6, 2011 (Nick Wass/AP Images for Dogfish Head and Samuel Adams)AP IMAGES FOR DOGFISH HEAD AND S
Koch, 75, brewed the first batch of Samuel Adams Boston Lager in his kitchen, based on his great-great grandfather’s beer recipe that he found in his parents’ attic in 1984, he told the Journal.
Though he is not Boston Beer’s chief executive, Koch remains “deeply involved” in the company and controls top-level decisions with his voting shares, according to the paper. He also tastes each batch of beer before it is bottled.
The company went public in 1995. Today, its market value is $3.5 billion, down from $12 billion in 2020.
Koch’s voting power will “eventually” pass to Fisher, 63, though he has “no plans to retire soon,” the Journal reported.
The couple has been married for more than 30 years.
Fisher founded ViaCord, a cord blood stem cell banking business in 1993 and sold it for $300 million in 2007, the Journal reported. Her recent work included founding two advocacy groups pushing for pricing transparency in healthcare.
She told the paper she expects Boston Beer’s innovation with different beverages to continue as Americans’ drinking preferences change. Beyond its beer, the company brews the Truly hard seltzer brand and Twisted Tea alcohol-spiked iced tea.
