[3] Since 1979 Resnick has served as President and chairman of The Wonderful Company, formerly known as Roll Global, which owns many businesses in Central California and beyond. Kevin Assemi demanded by email that Wonderful commit to paying the full bonus for 2019, and gave Wonderful until Sept. 4 to reply. In October of 2015, the Resnicks asked the Supreme Court to take the case. According to Forbes, "The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in 2010 that the Resnicks' POM Wonderful had used deceptive advertising when marketing the antioxidant-rich drink as being able to treat, prevent or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction. Expecting everyone to mirror your habits is impractical and hinders well-being and success. My hope is that this really doesnt become a charity, but rather works, and that we will get a paybackboth in terms of productivity and reduced health care costs. The work is extraordinary, and rooted in a genuine desire to make a difference in peoples lives, says media mogul Arianna Huffington. On the other side, the Assemis are no slouches when it comes to political heft, though their influence is more limited, focusing around Fresno. Photo by Courtesy of Stewart and Lynda Resnick, Resides in Los Angeles, CA Metropolitan Area. She was born in Lima, July 23, 1957, to Ray and Joyce Flowers. Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik writes a daily blog appearing on latimes.com. And it all happened after she offered to help him market his business of alarms. The lawsuit says that the health of the crop is threatened by Wonderfuls delaying tactics: Wonderful knows that time is of the essence because the crop must be harvested now each day of delay raises the prospect of a condition known as shell staining, which reduces the crops value. [35] Lynda Resnick described the brand as "created specifically for millennial women and older Gen Z'ers and the milestones they are celebrating in their blossoming and exhilarating lives. The largest local recipient of donations under the program is Wasco Union High School, which during the past twelve years has received more than $210,000 thanks to Wonderful Giving. Pistachio sales more than doubled in just three months and steadily increased over the following year to reach $114 millionproving that, sometimes, money really does grow on trees. Last year, the couples political and charitable donations topped $48 million. [6] Because of her father's occupation, Resnick, at the age of four, had a recurring role on The Horn & Hardart Children's Hour broadcast from WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. Wells describes Anthony Russo's girlfriend Lynda Sinay, who then ran a small advertising agency on Melrose Avenue, at the time she was asked to lend her Xerox machine to the task of photocopying the Pentagon . Pistachios are now among the top 10 best-selling salty snack items in the United States, and the Resnicks Lost Hills pistachio factory is the worlds largest. Stewart and Lynda Resnick have hobnobbed with such Southern California fixtures as Barbra Streisand, and theyre prominent among local philanthropists, with their name on a sizable chunk of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. [8] Through this holding company he and his wife own the POM Wonderful and Fiji Water brands, Wonderful Halos, Wonderful Pistachios and Almonds, JUSTIN Wines, Landmark Wines, JNSQ Wines, Suterra Pest Control[11] and the Teleflora floral wire service company. The Assemis imply that Wonderful effectively delivered on that promise in August, when the firm informed the family that it would not pay them a 30% bonus for their 2019 crop unless they agreed in advance to provide their 2020 crop to Wonderful. All told, they claim to own Americas second-largest produce company, worth an estimated $4.2 billion. [8] Franklin Mint is known for making model cars, souvenir plates, figurines, and Civil War-inspired chess sets. [8][9][10] While in law school, he founded his first business, a janitorial services company, which he sold in 1969. They really are trying to sacrifice one region for another, says Restore the Deltas Barrigan-Parrilla, who will testify against the plan this fall in hearings before the State Water Resources Control Board. About Us - Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital | UCLA Health When no reply arrived, the family filed the lawsuit the next day. Only people like you will. The Resnicks are quick to point out that its not just plant workers whove benefitedthe nut boom has improved the lives of farmworkers, too. Donald Trumps real net worth? In 1997 Tiger Woods successfully stopped the Franklin Mint from selling a commemorative medal of his win in the 1997 Masters Tournament. Beyond the Assemis decision to build their own processing plant, the cause of a breach between the families isnt clear. The Wonderful Company, the corporate arm of Beverly Hills billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick, promotes itself incessantly as an exemplar of social responsibility and a guardian of sustainable agriculture. Lynda Resnick has been involved in many companies. Having shrewdly maneuvered the backroom politics of Californias byzantine water rules, they are now thought to consume more of the states water than any other family, farm, or company. Farmers are the main reason that California now pumps nearly seven cubic kilometers of groundwater a year, or about as much total water as whats used by all the homes in Texas. But tree crops are different. No one cared about water, Lynda Resnick told me. Stewart and Lynda Resnick Give $750 Million to Caltech, Largest [33], In 2019, the Resnicks launched a female-focused luxury wine brand, JNSQ (named for the French phrase "je ne sais quoi"). Case Timeline But the Resnicks water rights, by and large, are not senior. In the 1970s, Stewart Resnick purchased 2,500 acres of oranges and lemons in California, kickstarting their entrance into agriculture. [4] After a brief stint at a local college, Resnick took a job at the in-house ad agency for Sunset House catalog. December 5, 2014 Stephen Colbert Introduces Lynda Resnick Watch on Lynda R. Resnick is Vice Chair and Co-Owner of Roll Global. Tijerina, who has short gray hair and a cautious smile, grew up in a village near Monterrey, Mexico, before her family moved to South Texas in 1954. [40], In October 2022, the Resnicks pledged $50 million to the University of California, Davis for sustainability research and the establishment of the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation. It is capable of storing 500 billion gallons [1.9 billion m3] of water. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. And now that people have to cut back on their water, all of a sudden it has become important.. It was only later that Tijerina realized the woman owned the almond groves where Tijerinas husband worked as a pruner. Alleged threat made by Stewart Resnick to the Assemi family, According to a lawsuit the Assemis filed earlier this month in Superior Court in Fresno, Stewart Resnick has threatened to torpedo the Assemis processing venture and even said at a growers meeting in March that he would [F-word] them.. Delta water has transformed the arid Southland into the states population center and the nations produce aisle. Straight up: We need this pitch, what you're reading right now, to start earning significantly more donations than normal. Nobody has political influence in this. They made a $4 million donation to Children's Hospital Central California in 2006. It's us but for your ears. We grow, harvest, bottle, package, and market a diverse range of products, including fruits, nuts, flowers, water, wines and juices. [15], The Resnicks purchased the Franklin Mint in 1984;[11] Lynda began directing the company's international marketing efforts, a position she held until 2000. Meet the California couple who uses more water than every home in Los They purchased 2,500 acres of orange trees in Californias Kern County citrus belt. Meet Stewart and Lynda Resnick, billionaire Agriculture royalty. She was ridiculed for spending $211,000 to buy Jacqueline Kennedys fake pearl necklace at auction, but she then sold more than 130,000 replicas for a gross of $26 million. By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners. Growing up in Philadelphia in the 1940s, Lynda performed on a TV variety show sponsored by an automat. [13][12] The Resnicks sold The Franklin Mint in 2006. [44], In September 2019, Lynda Resnick and her husband pledged $750 million to the California Institute of Technology for environmental sustainability research. This Is the New Normal. [20][21], In 2013 the Resnicks launched Wonderful Halos mandarins, with a $220 million facility in the San Joaquin Valley capable of processing 19 million mandarins a day. [2], Resnick was born Lynda Rae Harris[3] to a Jewish family in Baltimore, Maryland,[4][5] and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. #108 Forbes 400 (2021) Dropped off in 2022 Personal Stats Source of Wealth agriculture, water, Self Made Self-Made Score 8 Philanthropy Score 3 Residence Beverly Hills, California Citizenship. Last year, the Resnicks rebranded all their holdings as the Wonderful Company to highlight their focus on healthy products and philanthropy. Led by Noemi Donoso, the former chief executive of Chicagos public school system, Wonderful Education last year spent $9.3 million, including at least $2 million on teacher grants and college scholarships in the Central Valley; it pays up to $6,000 a year toward college tuition for children of its employees. Black Americans will spend $800 billion more on consumer products in 2030 than they did almost decade before, according to McKinsey. Months later they launched Californians for Water Security, a coalition of business and labor interests that promotes the tunnels as an earthquake safety measure. At the top of that list was Californias senior senator, Dianne Feinstein. In 2014, a judge ruled that the Department of Water Resources had turned the water bank over to the farmers without properly analyzing environmental impacts. Heres whats at stake, From a one-way flight to sleeping in a parking lot: Diary of a California dream gone sour, He built a booming black market empire inside L.A. County jails. [34] JNSQ Ros Cru and JNSQ Sauvignon Blanc made their debut alongside the Fall/Winter 2019 collection from California-born designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, who brought their show to Los Angeles (instead of New York Fashion Week) on February 5. Starting the night of Oct. 1, Russo, Ellsberg and various helpers copied 7,000 pages of the government-ordered secret history of America's involvement in Vietnam: the Pentagon Papers. POM positioned its product as almost a magic elixir health in a bottle and even put up billboards with the words Cheat Death next to a picture of the bottle. The Wonderful Co. Half of American households now purchase Wonderful Co. products. Offutt family (190,000 acres) On a swelteringly hot day, three Wonderful executives took me on a six-hour tour of nearly everything that the company is doing to improve the lives of the hundreds of employees who reside there. Not so fast. And it changed my life that very day, she said. The Wonderful Company. Hes nowhere near as rich as he boasts, nor as poor as his critics claim. Nor would she elaborate when I asked her about it. There are all sorts of costs related to poor health, Stewart Resnick said at the Aspen Institute in July. "[46], Additionally, Resnick and The Wonderful Company have been leaders in minimum wage increases. He recently unveiled a $15 billion plan to construct two 40-foot-wide tunnels that could carry 67,000 gallons of water per second from the Sacramento River to the Central Valley. A new environmental review is due next month, and a coalition of environmental groups and water agencies is suing to return the water bank to public ownership. Theyre more like the business in agribusiness.. The immediate cause appears to be the Assemis decision to start processing pistachios in a plant of their own, rather than turning over their crop to Wonderful. Lynda Resnick Wiki, Biography, Age, Career, Relationship, Net Worth 2023 Forbes Media LLC. [8], The Resnicks purchased The Franklin Mint in 1986 and expanded the company's collectibles business through new licensing agreements. The company's main product is pomegranate juice, which is sold in a trademark "double-bulb" bottle with the product name, POM, featured in capital letters where the O is substituted by a heart symbol. But the real buzz is how they rent them out. Because over the challenging last year, and thanks to feedback from readers, we've started to see a better way to go about asking you to support our work: Level-headedly communicating the urgency of hitting our fundraising goals, being transparent about our finances, challenges, and opportunities, and explaining how being funded primarily by donations big and small, from ordinary (and extraordinary!) Dedicated to harvesting health and happiness around the world, the company's iconic brands . As previously reported in Mother Jones, she marketed Fijis living water as a healthier alternative to tap water, which the company claimed could contain 4,000 contaminants. She has pushed the cardiovascular benefits of almonds, touted mandarin oranges as a healthy snack option for kids, and called nutrient-dense pistachios the skinny nut. Her $15 million Get Crackin' campaign, the largest media buy in the history of snack nuts, included a Super Bowl ad starring Stephen Colbert. [17], The Resnicks acquired the Fiji Water business in 2004,[18] increasing sales of Fiji Water by 300%[13] in 4 years, making it the largest imported bottled water brand in the US. One season without water piped in from the Delta can kill an orchard that took five years to mature. To expand their agricultural empire, they had to find another way to tap into the flow from north to south. [2] Resnick and his wife, Lynda Resnick, bought The Franklin Mint in 1986 and sold it in 2006. No one familiar with the works of John Steinbeck would think of California farming as a cool and clean enterprise. A rare peek inside their agricultural empire shows how Stewart and Lynda Resnick are going all in on the innovative citrus fruit. Urgent, for sure. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start. We need to start being more upfront about how hard it is keeping a newsroom like Mother Jones afloat these days. Stewart and Lynda Resnick have hobnobbed with such Southern California fixtures as Barbra Streisand, and they're prominent among local philanthropists, with their name on a sizable chunk of the. Millions lose access to drinking waterOur water doesnt have to be at risk! She had just been confronted while watering her lawn in Santa Monica by one of the amateur videographers behind last summers hottest new California film genre: the drought-shaming video. Harvard professor Michael Sandel, the ethicist known for his provocative questions, asked the assembled guests if they would be happy living in a town that was perfect in every possible way except for one terrible secret: Everyone in the town knew that somewhere in that village, in a dank basement, there was a small six-year-old child who was being tortured, he said, as Resnick later recalled. America's Nuttiest Billionaire Couple: Amid Drought, Stewart And Lynda (The Resnicks threw a cocktail party for Feinstein when the Democratic Convention came to Los Angeles in 2000; Feinstein and Arianna Huffington once spent New Years with the Resnicks at their home in Aspen, Colorado.) Indisputably, theyre master marketers. How To Better Serve Black Consumers And Improve Your Bottom Line, Stewart's Folly On Hybrid Work And Work-Life Balance, Aja Wilson And Breanna Stewart Lead 2023 WNBA All-Star Fan Voting, Rod Stewart Lists European-Style Los Angeles Mansion For $70 Million, Stewart Copeland Joined By Full Orchestra During Police Deranged Stop In Chicago, Utah Republican Rep. Chris Stewart Reportedly ResigningNarrowing GOPs House Majority, Martha Stewart Has Shown Us How To Stay Relevant In Business. It is building a $25 million campus for a college prep academy in Delano and expanding its agriculture-focused vocational program to six public schools. The Couple Who Turned a California Desert Into a Multi - Longreads Fix the system.. Both of them were divorced and found love and understanding. Stewart and Lynda Resnick: Donor Grants | Inside Philanthropy In 2012 a federal judge agreed that some of the ads were misleading. But if I had to do it again, I would.. The farmers had to relinquish 14 billion gallons of paper waterjunior water rights that exist only de jure, since there simply isnt enough rainfall most years to fulfill them. [48], Forbes noted that between 2010 and 2015 "the company has helped 55,000 students in the region through programs like college prep, scholarships and summer camps. Big Ag Billionaires Donate $250,000 to Newsom's Campaign Against Recall We walked through the parks emerald lawn to see its huge water tower, painted with a mural depicting two hills. The estate employs at least seven full-time attendants. POM Wonderful LLC and Roll Global LLC, In the Matter of The Assemis and Resnicks have a history dating back at least to 2014, and in the past it appears to have been close. In a U.S. News & World Report article, Resnick explained that her book promotes a concept she labels transparency: "Transparency is very newyou have to be a good citizen of the planet. Support the plan. Through their companies and the Resnick Family Foundation, these visionaries are committed to preserving and protecting the environment, supporting essential education programs, and improving the communities where their employees live and work. Rafaela Tijerina first met la seora at a school in the town of Lost Hills, deep in the farm country of Californias Central Valley. [9] Resnick was designated an un-indicted co-conspirator for her role and pursued by prosecutors for two years. The womans anger at being called out and her eagerness to redirect blame reflect common sentiments in an increasingly dry state. In June 2015, Rep. David Valadao, a Republican from the Valley, introduced a bill that would force federal regulators to release more Delta water for agriculture. The family alleges that Resnick said, I am going to war with you and I am going to do stuff to you that I would not do to other competitors because I have to make sure you are not successful with your plant. Resnick allegedly added: I am going to destroy you and make sure you fail so that no grower ever leaves and tries to make it on their own processing and marketing., Somethings not right about this California water deal, At a growers meeting on March 15, the lawsuit alleges, Stewart Resnick announced to hundreds of persons that the Assemis were going to leave the cooperative and that he was going to [F-word] them.. These last four years with this drought, nobody was looking until it affected them. [4][53] Resnick's second marriage is to Stewart Resnick, who is also her business partner. Lynda Rae Resnick was born in 1943 in Baltimore, Maryland, to a Jewish family and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "[54], Growing water-intensive nut tree crops (a single almond requires 1.1 US gallons [4.2L] of water[55]) in the Central Valley drew criticism during the 201117 California drought. In 2016, the . [33][34][35], In 2005 the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital was named for Resnick and his wife in honor of their involvement. The companys new, far-reaching health initiative also includes free exercise classes in the employee gym, a weekly on-site farmers market, and a program that pays people up to $2,700 a year to lose weight and keep it off. Next to the impeccable flower beds at one of the parks two community centers, food bank workers were unloading enough frozen chicken to feed roughly 400 people. The donation from Resnick and his wife, Lynda to build a sustainability center, fund immediate research and enrich an endowment expected to spin off $20 million a year is the second-largest. Local conservationists say that there are no indications that talks involving the winery and institutions such as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo over a transfer of the property or a full restoration have borne fruit. Stewart Resnick is chairman, president, and co-owner-along with his wife, Lynda Resnick-of The Wonderful Company, a privately held, Los Angeles-based global company that is dedicated to harvesting health and happiness around the world. Half the jobs are highly skilled jobs, said Andy Anzaldo, the general manager of grower relations. "[59], In addition, their claims for the POM pomegranate drink have been contested. Stewart and Lynda Resnick have faced ongoing criticism and legal challenges over several aspects of their business from environmental groups, including more than twenty years of continual lawsuits filed by the left-leaning Center for Biological Diversity over the Resnick's ownership of a massive underground water-storage facility near Los Angele. Around that time, Lynda started dating Anthony Russo, who worked at a think tank with military analyst Daniel Ellsberg. The issue has become more inclusive when selecting models. It's a wine made with that same shared quality of 'je ne sais quoi' that makes each of these ladies unique, memorable and unstoppable.[35] Designed to be sustainably reused, the curvaceous wine bottle was inspired by a vintage perfume bottle and comes with a rose- or grape-shaped glass stopper. The trial revealed that he and Russo had spent two weeks in all-night sessions photocopying the Pentagon Papers in Lyndas office on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Dubbed the Pentagon Papers, they detailed aspects of the war hidden from the public and damaged the credibility of the presidents involved. She even turned me down when I asked her to write about it for HuffPost! she told me. Less subtle was the national marketing campaign, which showed a Pom bottle with a broken noose around its neck, under the slogan Cheat death.. Resnick Foundation - InfluenceWatch - InfluenceWatch [7] In 1959, he graduated with a BS from the University of California, Los Angeles and then a JD from the UCLA School of Law. Since 1973, he has been married to Lynda Rae Harris. Embrace flexible work and work-life balance. In 2017, Halos accounted for around three-quarters of growth in the mandarin category, and 12% of total produce sales growth. They had two children: Jason Sinay and Jonathan Sinay. The chef in the employee cafeteria made us adobo-chicken lettuce wrapspart of a healthy menu intended to combat diabetes and obesity. Lynda Resnick's eye for a product. In 1978, Stewart purchased his first farmland in California to hedge against inflation. I think it was unfair, Resnick told me. In the Matter of POM Wonderful LLC and Roll Global LLC, as successor in interest to Roll International Corporation, companies, and Stewart A. Resnick, Lynda Rae Resnick, and Matthew Tupper, individually and as officers of the companies FTC Matter/File Number 082 3122 Docket Number 9344 Related Cases POM Wonderful LLC, et al. Since the program began in January 2015, the Wonderful workforce has shed 4,000 pounds. She is behind the marketing success of some of the most iconic and top-selling brands in America including Wonderful Pistachios, POM Wonderful, FIJI Water and Wonderful Halos. Suddenly, a boom box started blaring merengue, and everyone stood up and danced. The nut industrys nearly year-round employment has allowed farmworkers to put down roots. The meeting didnt go well, according to the lawsuit. Residents of Beverly Hills, theyre a dominating force in California agriculture and Southern California high society. By 2001 she had created Pom and soon was selling juice in little hourglass bottles under the label PM, a hint at its supposed cardiac benefits. The Kern County Water Bank was originally acquired in 1988 by the state to serve as an emergency water supply for the Los Angeles areaat a cost to taxpayers of $148 million in todays dollars. Billionaire couple Stewart and Lynda Resnick's charitable foundation has pursued an unusual investment strategy: lending millions of dollars to the pair's business associates. The Assemis told Wonderful on Sept. 4 that they were prepared to deliver their 2019 pistachios in the coming days, but also suggested that if they didnt receive written assurance that Wonderful would pay the full price, including the bonus, theyd sell the nuts elsewhere. Judge Sides With Assemi-Owned Touchstone vs. Wonderful Co. in Pistachio By the time she was 24, shed launched her own advertising agency, Lynda Limited, given birth to three children, and gotten divorced. Resnick served as CEO and chairman of the Franklin Mint Company until its sale in 2006. [15] In addition to drinks, the company sells pills and concentrated liquid products marketed as nutritional supplements. In 2009, Resnick, with Francis Wilkinson, co-authored a book, Rubies in the Orchard: How to Uncover the Hidden Gems in Your Business, which details her life by explaining marketing and business ideas she used to build successful brands. In 2012 a federal judge agreed that some of the ads were misleading. You could effectively divert just about every single drop of water before it gets to the estuary in dry years, says Doug Obegi, a staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Councils water program.