A deadly listeria outbreak at a Boar’s Head plant has put a spotlight on the ultra-secretive billionaire dynasty behind one of America’s top deli-meat brands.
Beyond their luxury homes and affluent lifestyle, little is known of the family members who run the $3 billion-a-year privately owned firm, and who have fallen out in recent years.
The outbreak this summer left 10 people dead and dozens hospitalized, most from eating liverwurst prepared in a Boar’s Head factory in Virginia.
A criminal probe followed, and at least six lawsuits for wrongful death and personal injury have been filed against the company.
The plant was shuttered and 7 million pounds of deli meat and other products were recalled.
Bob Martin, 74, bought this multimillion-dollar home on the tip of Longboat Key near Sarasota, Florida
Yet nobody from the two families who own the brand, the Brunckhorsts and Bischoffs, has commented on the scandal.
Tom Johnston, the editor of trade publication Meatingplace, told the New York Times that this was typical of the guarded families.
Frank Brunckhorst III, 61, stepped down from day-to-day operations at the company in 2003
‘They’re as secretive as anybody I can think of in the industry,’ he said.
The company’s day-to-day operations are led by president Carlos Giraldo.
But legal filings show key decisions are made by three family members: Robert S. Martin, known as Bob, the 74-year-old grandson of one of Boar’s Head’s founders; his 50-year-old son, Robert A. Martin, known as Bob Jr.; and their cousin, Frank Brunckhorst III, 61.
Those names do not appear on the company’s website. Even senior employees are kept in the dark about sales numbers.
The owners – including the two Martins and Brunckhorst, along with other cousins who don’t work at Boar’s Head – got $1.5 billion in payouts over a nearly 15-year period, court filings suggest.
Bob Martin is likened to a ‘Jay Gatsby’ of the deli-meat industry – a reference to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fictional protagonist – thanks to his dashing good looks, charisma, wealth, multiple homes and a love for boating, the Times reported.
When the company moved its headquarters to Sarasota, Florida in 2001, Brunckhorst and Martin relocated there and lived in luxurious, multimillion-dollar waterfront properties with pools.
At a swanky party for Boar’s Head’s 100th anniversary in the ballroom of Manhattan’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel in 2005, family members wore tuxedos and gowns to mark their shared history and success.
But that soon started to unravel.
Another relative, Eric Bischoff, has sued his cousins and the company several times over the allocation of shares.
Court filings point to family members linked by history and a business who’ve been torn apart by tensions over money and pride.
Martin and Eric Bischoff, both grandsons of early partner Bruno Bischoff, started working at the family business’s Brooklyn processing plant in the 1970s.
Boar’s Head has grown into a well-known brand with annual revenue of some $3 billion a year
The Boar’s Head processing plant in Jarratt, Virginia, was shuttered after a deadly listeria outbreak
The above map shows the states where illnesses linked to the deli meat listeria outbreak have been reported
The company remains tight-lipped about the family members who make key decisions
Eric Bischoff felt he had been short-changed in how many shares were allocated to him.
Tensions worsened between Bischoff and his cousins over the years. Martin said he tried to undermine employees hired by him or his father.
He and Brunckhorst even reportedly offered to pay Bischoff to stay home.
Months after the company’s centenary, Bischoff sued Martin and Brunckhorst for a bigger stake in the company.
The case was settled in 2008, with Bischoff getting a larger, roughly 14 percent of the company.
After the lawsuit, Bischoff no longer worked at the company.
Martin, who was by that point running Boar’s Head, stopped talking to his cousin. Staff knew not to utter Bischoff’s name around the office.
The feud reignited when Bob Martin transferred shares to his son, Bob Jr.
Bischoff sued him again, saying the transfers violated a shareholder agreement. The case was thrown out and Bischoff is appealing that decision.
Brunckhorst, meanwhile, stepped down from day-to-day operations at the company in 2003.
Last month, Boar’s Head announced the names of four food safety experts who would tackle the problems underpinning the listeria outbreak.
The company released extensive biographies of the safety team members on its website, but the names of both Martins and Brunckhorst were nowhere to be seen, the Times reported.
