Actor Miles Teller (Pennsylvania, 39 years old), known for films such as Whiplash, Top Gun: Maverick and, most recently, the biopic of Michael, has just significantly increased his net worth, although, according to him, not enough to retire from acting. And that’s despite the actor’s canned cocktail company being acquired for 325 million dollars. In 2019, Teller bought a minority stake in The Long Drink Company, a manufacturer of a sparkling alcoholic beverage with fruit flavors. This week, the entirety of the Finnish company was sold to the Mark Anthony Group, the alcoholic beverage corporation and creator of White Claw, one of the best-known hard seltzer brands. Now the actor will take a percentage of the multimillion-dollar sale, although the exact figure is unknown: “I don’t usually talk about numbers,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I was taught that talking about that is not in good taste. The only thing I will say is that I don’t plan to retire from acting anytime soon,” he added in statements to the film-specialized media.
Teller is one of the actors who in recent years have opted to found, invest in, and then sell their alcoholic beverage companies. So did Ryan Reynolds, who sold his gin brand for 500 million in 2020, and George Clooney, who sold his tequila brand for 1 billion in 2017.
The actor discovered the drink by accident and liked it so much that he wanted to be part of the company: “Shortly after Long Drink launched in the United States, Miles Teller visited a liquor store in his old Lower East Side neighborhood, where the founders of Long Drink were hosting a tasting. Miles liked the drink so much that he decided to invest in the brand a few months later,” explains the Finnish company’s website. Although he was not the founder, Teller used his capital to finance marketing campaigns for the drink across the United States —primarily featuring memes—, which led the brand to triple its sales and become the sixth largest canned alcoholic cocktail brand in the country by 2025.
Also taking a share of the sale is Norwegian DJ Kygo, who invested in the company after trying the alcoholic beverage at Teller’s wedding, where he married model Keleigh Sperry in 2019. Teller feels “very proud” to have participated in this project. “I’m very excited for our founders. How admirable that they come from a country that doesn’t export many products globally! But that they brought this drink, that they managed to expand it and grow it organically, is the true American dream,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
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Unlike other artists, who use their fame to promote their businesses, he is proud to have achieved success without showing his face in campaigns. “Long Drink was, without a doubt, my first company. It’s the first brand I’ve been linked to in this way. I don’t have Instagram, I’m not on TikTok, I’m not on many of those platforms where brands think: ‘Well, if he can’t promote it through his own personal channels, how much visibility are we going to get?’. And this proves the opposite and, I believe, consumers can detect lies. They realize when a celebrity is just looking to make easy money. I’ve been involved with this company for over seven years. It was something I truly believed in, and we found excellent ways for me to promote it and put my own stamp on it,” he tells the American magazine.
This success has also taught the actor that one can live without social media, and he doesn’t plan to join anytime soon. “I remember when I started my career, and even up until now, several agents would tell me: ‘You won’t get this role, this offer, because you’re not on Instagram.’ For me, it’s a personal decision,” he says. And he explains: “I never thought people would care to know what I do all the time. Personally, I’m not interested in that. I would never use social media just to see a bit of someone else’s life. I like to keep my private life and for people to know me through the films I identify with and my relationship with Long Drink. Anyway, I would only post pictures of my dog. I have Twitter, mainly because it used to be a source of quick news. But I practically only post about Philadelphia sports, my wife Keleigh, the Grateful Dead, and my dog. I don’t mind people knowing that about me,” he tells the publication.
Bugz pic.twitter.com/3jz6exXy41
— Miles Teller (@Miles_Teller) September 16, 2022
Despite the sale of the cocktail company, the actor will continue to participate in the company and with his film career: “Although the headline is ‘a sale’ and it certainly is because we are being acquired by Mark Anthony Group of Companies, for us it is an opportunity to continue growing. I see it more as a handshake, a partnership, and the beginning of something. It’s not the end for us,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter.
