W.L. Lyons Brown III and Stuart Brown issued a scathing letter to the Brown-Forman family regarding the company's declining stock price.
W.L. Lyons Brown III and his brother Stuart Brown sent a seven-page letter to over 130 relatives accusing the board of Brown-Forman of rewarding failure and keeping shareholders in the dark. The letter was issued following a 60% drop in the company's stock price over five years as whiskey consumption declined. The heirs, who are outsiders to the Wolf Pen Branch—the family group controlling 60% of the voting shares—argued that the board should have accepted a $15 billion hostile takeover bid from Sazerac. However, the board and the Wolf Pen Branch publicly rejected the offer, stating it did not align with the family's long-term vision. The critique from the brothers came just before the family's annual July picnic and resulted in the resignation of CEO Lawson Whiting three days later. The brothers compared the company's expanding flavor lineup to Baskin-Robbins, highlighting the perceived lack of focus in thes current strategy.