Wirtz Dispute Over Liquor Empire

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 25, 2010 7:40PM

One of the subplots to the renaissance of the Chicago Blackhawks is the rehabilitation of the Wirtz family image, thanks in large part to the accessibility and presence of team owner Rocky Wirtz. Wirtz's media-friendly images belies the bottom line businessman lying underneath.

Both Wirtz's father, Bill, and grandfather, Arthur, were proactive early with family business succession plans to stave off the fractious discord that's befallen other uber-rich families like the Pritzkers, and Bill Wirtz groomed Rocky as successor to the family business interests at an early age. One would think, with a fortune valued at over $1 billion, there would be enough to go around. But a recent court filing indicates not all is bread and circuses in the House of Wirtz. Brother Peter Wirtz and three of the Wirtz sisters claim in the filing that Rocky Wirtz is withholding key financial information related to a Coors Distributorship the family owns in Nevada. Peter Wirtz and his sisters state they want transparency regarding Bill Wirtz's ownership stake in Monarch Beverage Company, as well as a subsidiary in Minnesota, and that Rocky Wirtz is undervaluing the stake in order to buy them out. Peter Wirtz claims that his brother is basing the valuation on old numbers, while the sisters say they don't want to sell and pass along their stakes to their children.

Rocky Wirtz counters that settling his father's estate before a deal is in place for the distributorship places the asset in jeopardy. Under Bill Wirtz's succession agreement, any disagreements between Rocky and Peter Wirtz, and longtime family attorney Donald Hunter, would be settled by any two parties being in agreement., Nevada liquor laws prevent a large company like Wirtz from owning a distributorship like Monarch. So it was set up as a separate company, with Rocky Wirtz owning 51 percent and Bill Wirtz 49 percent.