Two school friends from Swansea have turned a colorful vodka idea into a reported £300 million ($405 million) acquisition — and walked away with at least £75 million each in the process.
Charlie Morgan, 31, and Jackson Quinn, 33, founded Au Vodka in Wales in 2015, shortly after leaving school. More than a decade later, the premium spirits brand has been acquired by Kentucky-based drinks giant Sazerac, giving the founders a massive payday while handing the American company a fast-growing British vodka and ready-to-drink business.
Bloomberg calculated that Morgan and Quinn will each take home at least £75 million, or about $101 million, from the transaction. A person familiar with the deal told Bloomberg that future earn-outs and royalty payments could push their individual proceeds as high as £100 million.
The numbers are striking — but there is an important caveat.
Sazerac has not disclosed the financial terms of the acquisition. Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the transaction, that Au Vodka was valued at more than £300 million, or roughly $405 million. Sazerac itself confirmed that the acquisition had closed but said the terms would not be disclosed.
From A Swansea Idea To A Global Vodka Brand
Morgan and Quinn launched Au Vodka in Swansea in 2015 with a strategy that deliberately broke away from traditional vodka branding.
Instead of relying on conventional clear or frosted bottles, the company built its identity around its distinctive gold packaging, colorful flavors and aggressive social-media marketing.
The brand says the founders identified an opportunity for a premium vodka that would stand out visually and appeal to a younger generation.
That strategy helped Au expand from a local Welsh startup into a business selling products across the UK and an increasing number of international markets.
The company now employs more than 80 people, according to Sazerac, and has developed both its traditional vodka business and a growing ready-to-drink, or RTD, portfolio.
The Eden Hazard Connection That Made Morgan Famous
Morgan also had an unusual head start in the attention economy.
Before Au Vodka existed, he became internationally known after an incident involving then-Chelsea footballer Eden Hazard during a 2013 League Cup match between Chelsea and Swansea City.
Morgan was 17 and working as a ballboy when Hazard attempted to retrieve the ball from underneath him. Hazard was sent off following the incident.
Years later, Morgan and Hazard were photographed together, turning what had once been an infamous football moment into another chapter of Morgan’s increasingly unusual business story. Sky News previously identified the incident as part of Morgan’s public profile before he and Quinn built Au Vodka.
But the vodka company ultimately became far bigger than that viral football episode.
How Social Media Helped Build Au Vodka
Au Vodka leaned heavily into social media, celebrity visibility and eye-catching marketing.
The company attracted attention through collaborations and endorsements involving personalities from music, sports and entertainment. Sky News previously reported celebrity associations involving figures such as Floyd Mayweather, Ronaldinho and Jake Paul.
The company also brought in broadcaster and DJ Charlie Sloth as an investor, further connecting the brand with music and entertainment culture.
That marketing model became central to Au’s expansion.
Rather than spending decades building a traditional spirits heritage, the company attempted to manufacture cultural relevance through social platforms, distinctive packaging and viral campaigns.
The Numbers Behind The Sale
Au Vodka’s growth was substantial.
Financial information cited from UK company filings shows revenue of about £82.8 million for the year to April 2025, up from roughly £65 million the previous year.
That growth helps explain why a much larger spirits company was willing to pay a substantial premium for a relatively young brand.
The reported valuation of more than £300 million represents several times Au Vodka’s latest annual revenue, although the precise transaction multiple cannot be calculated because Sazerac has not disclosed the actual consideration.
In other words, Sazerac isn’t simply buying bottles of vodka.
It is buying a recognizable brand, a growing customer base, distribution momentum and a marketing formula that has already demonstrated an ability to attract attention.
Why Sazerac Wanted Au Vodka
For Sazerac, the acquisition provides a way to strengthen its position in the UK while expanding its portfolio of vodka and ready-to-drink products.
Sazerac already owns more than 500 brands, including Buffalo Trace, Fireball, BuzzBallz and SVEDKA.
Au Vodka gives the privately held American company another brand with international ambitions — but one that has been built using a very different playbook from many of the heritage spirits brands in its portfolio.
Sazerac said the acquisition would deepen its presence in the UK and provide Au Vodka with a platform for continued global expansion.
The deal also fits into Sazerac’s broader acquisition push.
Reuters noted that the company has been acquiring brands while separately pursuing a much larger potential transaction involving Brown-Forman, the maker of Jack Daniel’s. Brown-Forman rejected Sazerac’s reported offer.
The £75 Million Payday Could Still Get Bigger
The headline number for Morgan and Quinn is already enormous.
Bloomberg’s calculation puts their immediate proceeds at at least £75 million each.
But that may not be the final number.
According to a person familiar with the transaction, future earn-out and royalty payments could lift the founders’ individual proceeds toward £100 million each, depending on the terms and future performance of the business.
That distinction matters because the widely circulated £300 million figure and the earlier reports of a potential £500 million deal are not necessarily contradictory.
Before the acquisition closed, Sky News reported that the potential transaction could reach £500 million when future payments were included, with the founders potentially receiving more than £100 million each.
After closing, Reuters reported the transaction value at more than £300 million, while Sazerac confirmed that the financial terms themselves were not being disclosed.
So the safest description is this: the acquisition was reported at more than £300 million, while additional performance-linked payments could make the eventual economic value considerably higher.
Morgan And Quinn Aren’t Simply Walking Away
Despite the sale, the founders are not disappearing from the company.
Bloomberg reported that Morgan and Quinn will continue working for Sazerac following the transaction.
That means the pair could now have something potentially more valuable than the original startup itself: access to the distribution network, capital and international reach of one of the world’s major spirits companies.
Morgan said the founders originally started Au Vodka with little more than an idea and a belief that vodka could be made more exciting.
Sazerac now has the resources to take that idea into additional markets.
The Bigger Bet Is What Happens Next
The sale is not only a story about two young entrepreneurs becoming multimillionaires.
It is also a bet on whether a social-media-driven drinks brand can become a genuinely global spirits business.
Au Vodka has already established itself in Britain. The next challenge is turning that momentum into sustained international growth.
Sazerac’s scale could provide the distribution and marketing infrastructure required to do that.
But the acquisition also transfers the future growth challenge from the founders to the new owner.
For Morgan and Quinn, the risk of building the company from scratch has been transformed into a huge financial windfall.
For Sazerac, the real test begins now.
The American spirits giant has paid a reported £300 million-plus for a brand that was created by two school friends barely more than a decade ago.
Whether Au Vodka can turn its viral success into a global spirits empire may determine just how valuable that gold bottle ultimately becomes.
