George Clooney and his friend Rande Gerber built one of the fastest-growing premium tequila brands in the United States after a distillery in Mexico called to say their personal orders, which had reached about 1,000 bottles a year, could no longer be treated as private consumption.
Faced with the choice of cutting back their orders or getting a proper licence, the pair chose to turn what had been a personal project into a real business. That business, Casamigos, later became part of a deal worth up to $1 billion.
From Cabo San Lucas to 700 samples
The story began in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where Clooney and Gerber, a longtime restaurant and nightlife entrepreneur, had built houses next to each other. Mike Meldman, founder of Discovery Land Company, a luxury residential and resort development firm, was also part of the group and later became the third co-founder of Casamigos.
The three loved tequila but struggled to find one that matched their taste: smooth, easy to drink and balanced enough to sip neat, without lime, salt or the sharp burn that often comes with other tequilas.
To develop the flavour they wanted, they worked with a distillery in Jalisco, the region considered the birthplace of tequila, and spent around two years testing more than 700 samples before settling on a recipe that satisfied them.
For a long time, the tequila was not for sale. They drank it themselves, along with their families and friends, and even the name reflected that idea: Casamigos, meaning "house of friends." The group held a special place in Clooney's life. He has said in an interview with GQ that in 2013 he gave $1 million each to 14 close friends, wanting to thank them for the support they had given him over the years.
Four years to the deal
Casamigos changed course when personal orders grew so large that they required formal licensing. In 2013, the tequila that had until then been made only for friends appeared for the first time on shelves and in bars.
The growth that followed was remarkably fast. Only four years passed between the official launch of Casamigos in 2013 and its acquisition by Diageo.
In 2017, Diageo announced it was buying Casamigos, describing it at the time as the fastest-growing super-premium tequila brand in the United States. The deal valued Casamigos at up to $1 billion, with Diageo paying $700 million upfront and the remaining $300 million tied to reaching specific targets over a ten-year period.
For Diageo, the appeal of Casamigos went beyond Clooney's fame. The brand had grown quickly in a category gaining ground across the United States and had already built a strong position in the premium tequila market.
The actor's involvement gave the tequila major visibility from the start, but what set the brand apart was that interest in it quickly turned into real demand and commercial growth.
Back to drinks, this time without alcohol
Almost a decade after the Diageo deal, the three co-founders returned to the drinks business together, this time with a non-alcoholic product.
In March 2026, Clooney, Gerber and Meldman launched Crazy Mountain, a non-alcoholic lager initially offered in two versions. The new brand launched in select US markets, aiming to tap into a consumer shift toward drinking less alcohol or none at all.
The timing appears to favour them. In the United States, alcoholic drink consumption fell 5% by volume in 2025, while traditional beer sales dropped 6%. Non-alcoholic beer moved in the opposite direction, rising 15%.
A similar trend has emerged in Europe. In the European Union, overall beer consumption fell 3.2% in 2025, while non-alcoholic beer rose 5.9%. About 1 in every 12 beers consumed in the EU is now non-alcoholic, with the category growing more than 38% since 2020.
Industry research suggests the trend still has significant room to grow, with the non-alcoholic drinks market in the United States expected to approach $5 billion in value by 2028, and non-alcoholic beer remaining the main driver of the category.
Can the Casamigos formula work again?
Crazy Mountain is entering that market early. Unlike Casamigos, this venture began with a clear commercial strategy and significant capital behind it. A few weeks after launch, it secured $15 million in funding led by CAVU Consumer Partners, with participation from Coatue and Discovery Land Company.
Casamigos grew into a business almost by accident, while Crazy Mountain was built from the outset with a commercial goal in mind. This time, the three founders are entering a new market already knowing what it takes to build a drinks brand from scratch, backed by the experience of a deal that reached $1 billion.
The conditions, though, are different. Casamigos emerged at a time when premium tequila was steadily gaining ground in the United States and major drinks groups were seeking brands with strong identities and international growth potential. Crazy Mountain is launching at a time when more consumers are cutting back on alcohol without necessarily wanting to give up the taste or social experience that comes with a drink.
That is the new bet for Clooney, Gerber and Meldman. Their first business success came almost by chance, in front of a market that was growing fast. Now they are trying to do the same far more deliberately, spotting a shift in consumer habits early and investing in it before the category fully matures.
