Summerfield Johnston Jr

Summerfield Johnston Jr.'s grandfather got the first Coca-Cola bottling license back in 1899, and the world's largest beverage company is still making the Johnstons rich today. Summerfield inherited the family bottling franchise, Johnston Coca-Cola, and turned it into the largest independent Coke bottler in the world. By 1991, Coke's own bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises was struggling and looking for new leadership, so the company bought Johnston's Chattanooga, Tennessee-based outfit and brought Summerfield in to run the larger operation. Johnston turned around the business by decentralizing operations and empowering local bottlers. He stepped down as CEO in 2001 and retired his chairmanship in 2007 but still holds a 7% stake in Coca-Cola Enterprises today. In addition to the bottling business, Johnston's father also passed down a love for polo and a place to play the sport, the Bendabout Farm outside of Chatanooga, which has hosted polo tournaments since 1972. Johnston's son Summerfield III, a onetime director of Coca-Cola Enterprises, died tragically in a polo accident in 2007.