Our Portfolio

Tom King is a result-driven wine and spirits executive. His prior experience includes 3 years at Pete’s Brewing Company, 11 years at Diageo North America, and 13 years with increasing levels of responsibility at Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits. Tom brings a team-building approach to building a winning culture. He is passionate about giving back through charity involvement in his hometown community of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Traci spent a decade at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits in Category Management, Customer Development, and Supplier Strategy roles. Her most recent role there was as Regional Director of the National Accounts Center of Excellence Team. Her expertise includes understanding complex data sets and turning them into insightful visualizations, data standardization, data automation, and Business Intelligence Dashboard Development.

An accomplished executive with an extensive background in the alcoholic beverage industry has held notable leadership roles, including Executive Vice President and National Sales Manager.  With a career spanning Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, Breakthru Beverage, Ferrari-Carano Vineyards, and most recently, Legend Spirits, he has amassed 28 years of expertise in both on and off-premise sales and cultivating strong relationships in the marketplace.  Recognized as a results-driven sales leader, he consistently surpassed targets, fostered enduring connections, and translated data into actionable strategies for business growth.

With a proven track record of success in the wine and spirits industry, Fran Baker is a seasoned professional passionate about driving sales and building strong relationships.  With over 30 years of experience, he has held key leadership roles, including Vice President of Western Division and National Accounts at Legends Wines and Spirits and Director of Genesis Spirits On-Premise at Southern Glazer Wine and Spirits.

Chris joined WES Brands in 2023, driven by the opportunity to build brands with an entrepreneurial spirit. He’s excited about developing brand equity through sales execution, brand proposition and consumer engagement. Chris has 28 years in the Wine & Spirits business, most recently as the Vice President of National Sales at El Silencio Holdings.

Marshall Watson is the Executive Chairman & Managing Member of WES Brands.

WES Brands was formed after Mr. Watson’s involvement in the transaction pursuant to which an investor group acquired Aviation Gin in partnership with actor Ryan Reynolds. In that transaction, Mr. Reynolds acquired an equity stake in the brand and agreed to serve as its Creative Director. Diageo, the world’s largest spirits supplier, agreed to acquire Aviation Gin in 2020.

Previously, Mr. Watson was the President of Direct Holdings Global, LLC (“DHG”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of dick clark productions, and a Principal at Mosaic Media Investment Partners (“MMIP”). DHG, a direct-to-consumer marketing and sales company, is best-known for its iconic “Time Life” infomercials featuring compilation collections of classic television, comedy, and music. DHG’s live entertainment division, StarVista Live, produced nearly a dozen music-themed cruises and land-based events ranging from The Soul Train Cruise and The Southern Rock Cruise to Abbey Road on the River, a prominent North American Beatles festival.

As a Principal at MMIP, Mr. Watson managed the initial acquisition of DHG from Reader’s Digest in 2012, as well as the sale of DHG to dick clark productions in 2014. In addition, Mr. Watson managed all MMIP non-control investments in sports, e-sports, gaming, media, and technology.

Mr. Watson also serves as the Executive Chairman of World Food Championships, the largest food sport event in the world, in partnership with IMG.

Mr. Watson began his career as an M&A and private equity lawyer at the global law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he represented clients such as One Equity Partners (the private equity arm of JP Morgan), Odyssey Investment Partners, Leonard Green & Partners, and Investcorp.

Mr. Watson holds B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Southern California, and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert J. Timlin, U.S. District Court, Central District, Eastern Division.

David Edwab is a seasoned entrepreneurial executive with deep financial and operational experience. He served as an executive, director, or advisor to numerous public and private companies in various sectors, including Men’s Wearhouse, Joseph Abboud, Joseph A. Banks, Aeropostale, Seven For All Mankind, Trans American Auto Parts, Stewart Weitzman, Vitamin Shoppe, Dimensions and Alexandra UK, Moores Retail Group Canada, New York and Company, Mr. Edwab was the principal partner in the formation of Aviation American Gin LLC, and BSB Brown Sugar Blend LLC.

Sheldon “Shelly” Stein served as President of Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits. Prior, he served as President and CEO of Glazer’s.

Before beginning his tenure with Glazer’s in 2010, Stein had been a Vice Chairman of Global Investment Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch since March 2008. In this role, he served as Glazer’s lead advisor and worked closely with the Glazer Family and executive team, as well as its suppliers, on many strategic fronts.

Jim has over 35 years of experience in the beverage alcohol industry and is the retired COO and Executive VP (1994-2010) of Brown-Forman, one of the world’s top ten wine and spirits companies headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.   Prior to joining Brown-Forman, he was Executive VP of Sales and Marketing of Seagram Classics Wine Company in New York and California (1984-1994). 

Rudy has twenty years of experience in the beverage alcohol industry, most recently serving as CEO of Stoli Group, a position he held since May of 2018.  Before joining Stoli Group Rudy spent ten years at Heaven Hill where he held several senior level positions across both finance and sales. Those included Finance Director the the East Region, VP sales for the NY Division, VP, sales for the Florida division, Regional VP for the East Region, and VP, General Manager for the SGWS Region. 

Chester Brandes is a spirits industry veteran with 40 years of experience in both the US domestic and international markets; he has consistently brought passion, creativity and unparalleled commitment to each of his successful business ventures.   Since the sale of Bulldog Gin to Davide Campari S.p.A.in March 2017, Brandes has been doing consulting as well as investing in a number of start-ups in the beverage industry.  

Brandon Weaver is a Global Marketing Executive with experience at Diageo, Carlyle Group, LVMH, UBS and General Electric. Currently General Manager for Sonder, a late stage VC backed tech-enabled travel company reimaging hospitality for the modern traveler.   Served as GM & CMO of Stillhouse Spirits, a subsidiary of Bacardi USA, awarded for its cutting-edge packaging and design. Formerly the CMO & COO of Bonotel Exclusive Travel, a Carlyle-backed $300mn luxury hospitality provider sold to Travel Leaders Group in 2017.

Since 2002, Jonathan has held the positions of V.P./ Director of Buying & Merchandising for Duty-Free Americas, Vice President for UETA Inc. of Panama, and Executive Vice President for Innovative Liquors LLC. From 1993 until he joined Duty-Free Americas/UETA Inc., Jonathan held various positions within Brown-Forman Beverages Worldwide in the USA Domestic Market, Military & Transportation.  In Jonathan’s last position with Brown-Forman, he managed North America Duty-Free and the Caribbean.  Jonathan is a founding partner who legalized Lucid Absinthe, the first legal Absinthe in the United States in 95 years.  The company successfully sold Lucid to Hood River Distillers, Inc. in March 2013.  Jonathan is the 3rd generation of his family in the spirits industry.  He currently sits on the Board of Directors as an Advisor of ReserveBar, the largest luxury online marketplace for premium alcoholic beverages in the USA.  He earned a B.S. in Finance from the University of Maryland (1991) and an MBA in International Business from the University of Miami (1992).

An accomplished wine and spirits executive with over 40 years of beverage alcohol experience retired from Brown-Forman in June 2022.  At Brown-Forman, he served as Director of Sales for the United States and Canada for 12 years and, prior to that, held numerous sales leadership roles in multiple regions in the US.      

He is regarded for extensive sales, territory, and distributor management experience with in-depth knowledge of distribution networks, supplier route-to-market strategy, and commercial strategy development. Known for coaching, developing, and motivating national and regional sales teams.

A graduate of the University of South Carolina and currently works with the Darla Moore School of Business as an advisor to the senior and MBA students.  M.B.A. from the University of Dallas.