Rodney Sacks Bio

I’m sure everyone is familiar with the energy drink brand Monster Energy, but the question is, have you ever wondered who came up with it? How was the concept built, or how much the company is worth today?

Well, I have. This is why I have put together this Rodney Sacks bio, him being a billionaire, businessman, CEO, and the man behind one of the biggest and best energy drink brands in the world.

Rodney Sacks is an extremely private character, so there is quite a lot of information that isn’t available to the public, such as where he lives, and whether or not he’s married, but what I can tell you about is where the company started and began, and a few bits in between.

Once you’ve finished here, you should head over and take a look at our Stephen Schwarzman Bio, one of New York’s wealthiest men.

Rodney Sacks Bio Facts

Full Name: Rodney Cyril Sacks
Birth Date: 1949-1950
Birth Place: South Africa
Nick Name: Unknown
Nationality: South African
Siblings: Brother – Leslie Sacks, Sister – Caron Sacks
Children: Unknown
Partner / Spouse: Unknown
Profession: CEO Monster Energy Drinks
Salary: $3 million
Net Worth: $1 billion
Social Media: No social media found
Companies Associated With: Monster Energy Drinks
Last Updated: August 2022

Rodney Sacks Key Facts Summary

Rodney Sacks
Image from Twitter
  • His sister, Caron, is married to Ze’ev Bielski, an Israeli politician.
  • He is the chairman and CEO of the company Monster Energy Drinks.
  • His business partner is Hilton Schlosberg, who is also from South Africa.
  • Sacks started the original company, called Henson Natural Corporation, in 1992.
  • In June 2015, Coca-Cola bought a 16.7% share in Monster Energy for $2.15 billion.

Rodney Sacks Birthplace and Early Life

Rodney was born and raised in South Africa into a Jewish-Lithuanian family.[1] His father was also a successful businessman named Wolfe Harry Sacks [2].

Although there isn’t any public information about his early education or where he went to school, we know that he studied at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. By the time he finished his studies, he had gained a law degree and a postgraduate higher diploma in tax law. [3]

Rodney Sacks Early Business Success

rodney sacks monster
Image from Twitter

When Rodney was living in South Africa, he got a job as a lawyer and became the youngest person to partner at one of the country’s largest law firms, Werksmans. He spent 20 years with the company and eventually got made senior partner before emigrating to California.

In 1990, the Hansen Natural Corporation was bought by a federation led by Rodney, his business partner, co-chairman, and fellow South African Hilton Schlosberg. In 1992, they obtained Hansen’s Natural Soda and Apple Juice for a whopping $14.5 million.

Since the business began in 1990, Rodney has been the chairman and CEO and still remains today. The company changed its name to the more recognized today, Monster Beverage Corporation, in 2012.

Monster Beverage Corporation

Sacks had started to realize the success that the likes of Redbull were experiencing at the time and decided it was about time he had a bit of the action, and by 2014, the company had made $2.8 billion in gross sales. [4] In 2015, Monster was fast catching up with red bull in the market, with red bull having a 43%, and Monster coming close behind with 39% of the market.

During these years, the energy drink market, on the whole, was worth around $7.2 billion, with red bull being accountable for $3.1 billion of it. [5]

The company has continued to grow since then, and in 2019, they were reaching figures as high as $4.2 billion.

In more recent years, and the popularity of energy drinks has started to decrease, Sacks has begun to have other ambitions and is now broadening his horizons into something called Alternative Beverage, which at the moment is valued at a mind-blowing $58.6 billion. Something tells me he’s going up in the world.

Alternative Beverage is a new category of drinks, which includes still drinks only, like non-carbonated lemonade, fruit cocktails, ready-to-drink coffees, still energy drinks, and flavored waters, all using natural ingredients.

If the drinks industry is something that piques your interest, then you should have a read of our Starbucks Competitors Analysis when you’re done here.

Rodney Sacks Videos

Let’s take a look at some of Rodney’s things about making his company and where he thinks the market is heading regarding energy drink production.

This entire interview with director Rodney Sacks provides insight into the company’s success, marketing strategy, history, and decision-making. A billionaire duo led by Rodney Sacks has created Monster Beverage, an energy drink company that makes a variety of brands, from NOS to Relentless. They compete with Red Bull, Pepsico, and Rockstar.

(50) 2017 Interview with Rodney Sacks CEO Monster Beverages MNST Energy Drinks – YouTube

Anais Fournier sadly passed away after consuming two cans of Monster Energy over 24 hours. Anais, unfortunately, had an underlying heart condition and died due to cardiac arrhythmia related to caffeine toxicity.

Here, we can hear Gabe Silverman reporting on the harrowing tale, as well as discussing the lawsuits that were filed against Monster Energy.

(50) Monster Energy Drink Accused in Teen Death [Video] – YouTube

A message from Rodney at the beginning of the 2019 MotoGP season.

(50) Message from Rodney Sacks, Chairman, and CEO of Monster Energy Company – YouTube

Rodney Sacks Business Failures

Coca-Cola

Not that I would call it a failure as such, but perhaps a bit of controversy that surrounds Sacks, or the company, is the fact that at one point, Monster energy was collaborating with Coca-Cola. Coke took on deliveries to areas that Anheuser-Busch couldn’t deliver to. It meant that Monster could now start being delivered to Canada and 6 western European countries.

All was going well until Coke launched its own version of energy drinks, which upset the CEO and chairman of Monster Energy.

The argument was settled quite amicably, and the two companies agreed that Coke would receive 16.7% stakes in Monster, and between them, they would swap competing brands. This worked pretty well for a while.

This was until, a bit further down the line, Coca-Cola started again, this time launching a whole new range known as Coca-Cola Energy.

As far as I know, this is a case that is still ongoing and which I believe is currently going through court proceedings.

Promotion of Unsafe Products

Another controversy surrounding Monster Energy is from back in 2013. There were concerns about the consumption and sale of high-caffeinated products; after a 14-year-old girl named Anaid Fournier sadly passed away after drinking two cans of Monster Energy drinks, her cause of death was related to caffeine consumption.

It did turn out, however, that the teenager had an underlying heart problem, which gave the company leeway to say that their drinks were no more dangerous than the average cup of coffee.

Rodney Sacks Family

After doing a lot of digging and asking around, it seems there is still nothing out there to tell us whether Rodney is in a relationship, married, or has any children; I guess he must be extremely eager to keep his private life well, private.

Rodney Sacks Net Worth and Career Earnings

Monster Energy Drinks
Image from Pinterest

Rodney’s primary source of income is his position in the Monster Energy Drinks company, which grew and grew as the demand for energy drinks increased; now that the trend is starting to die down, though, he seems to be branching out into much bigger and better ventures.

However, we don’t quite know his annual salary for the past couple of years. His net worth currently stands at $1 billion.

Rodney Sacks Real Estate Holdings

Just like the rest of his private life, we don’t know what houses Sacks owns, or where exactly he lives, though it is rumored that he still lives in Canada. If you want to take a look at another wealthy individual who isn’t shy about letting us know what homes he owns, then you should take a look at our Elon Musk Bio for a fascinating read.

Rodney Sacks Quotes

Rodney seems to be a man of few words when it comes to public speaking, but in the interviews he has done, these are a few things he has had to say about being successful in business.

“What is interesting is that the three of us have very different disciplines and strengths. We are very, very different people.”

“Some of our ideas are very aggressive, but having worked closely with each other for so long, we are often comfortable with moving ahead, with ideas that conservative management wouldn’t go with.”

“One of the most important things is knowing that you are going to make mistakes and that you may have to change.”

“If you had your wish list, you would want one brand name, and you would want it to be everything to everyone.”

Rodney Sacks Bio FAQs

Question: How Much is Rodney Sacks Worth?

Answer: The chairman and CEO of Monster Energy, Rodney Sacks, is currently worth $1 billion.

Question: Who is Rodney Cyril Sacks?

Answer:  Rodney Sacks is a successful businessman and the chairman and CEO of the famous energy drink Monster Energy.

Question: Where Did Rodney Sacks Study Law?

Answer: Rodney and his brother Leslie attended the same University, The University of the Witwatersrand.

Recommended Reads:

Research Citations

  1. https://www.forbes.com/profile/rodney-sacks-1/
  2. Rodney Sacks Biography – Brooksy (brooksysociety.com)
  3. http://beverageforum.com/index.php/11-speakers/13-rodney-sacks
  4. www.investors.monsterbevcorp.com
  5. Monster, Red Bull, Rockstar Ranked | Time
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