THE ROCK IS ON A ROLL

A MULTI-FACETED ENTERTAINER, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has reached the pinnacle of media influence. After an abortive attempt at a career in Canadian professional football, he remade himself A as a celebrity pro wrestler in America. Then he left the ring, taking his star power to Hollywood and landing roles in The Fast and the Furious, Jumanji and Disney’s Moana.

Meanwhile, Johnson’s successful business ventures have earned him a well-deserved reputation as a level-headed entrepreneur. He’s demonstrated his understanding of his audience and their habits in the way he has run enterprises that have included The Rock Clock app, Athleticon, Acorns, his own YouTube channel,

THE ROCK

IS ON A ROLL

Dwayne Johnson is a one-man hype machine. Even his body embodies hype!

b y K E N DA L L P O L I D O R I

an Under Armour partnership, Seven Bucks Productions, and most recently, two beverage-based companies: Teremana Tequila and ZOA Energy drinks.

The Rock launched his small-batch Teremana brand of tequila in March 2020, about the time the pandemic became entrenched. Esquire magazine called it a “solid and additive-free” tequila and ranked it sixth of 63 celebrity spirits brands and second among celebrity tequilas. Teremana has set an industry record by selling more than 600,000 cases during its first year. In a social media post, The Rock noted that actor George Clooney sold his Casamigos tequila to Diageo for $1 billion after selling only 170,000 cases a year.

Besides tequila, The Rock has invested in a brand of bottled water and launched his second collaboration in the ice cream business.

He created ZOA Energy last year to produce a “clean and healthy” energy drink with no sugar and only 100 calories per can. It comes in five flavors and contains Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin B, essential aminos, camu camu, turmeric, antioxidants, acerola, choline and a healthy dose of 160 milligrams of natural caffeine from green tea extracts and green coffee beans.

Rock Star

In his first non-wrestling acting gig,

Johnson played “Rocky Johnson” in That ‘70s Show

Johnson comes from a long line

of wrestlers. His grandfather, Peter Maivia, was a Samoan pro wrestler, and his father, Rocky Johnson,

made pro wrestling histor y as part of the first all-black championship

tag team billed as “The Soul Patrol” He played defensive tackle for

the University of Miami and studied

criminology and physiology

$320 million

–The Rock’s estimated net worth

15.8 million

–Twitter followers @therock

With Molson Coors Beverage as a distribution partner and minor investor, ZOA hopes to generate $20 million in sales this year. As of November 2021, ZOA reached sales of as much as $16 million year-to-date in measured retail channels.

Social media campaigns have helped ZOA Energy attract attention. As of November, The Rock’s Instagram account was the fifth most popular in the network with 278 million followers. Now, it exceeds 300 million. But The Rock’s far from finished. He announced last year that he’s interested in running for president in 2024, and a poll published in April 2021 indicated that 46% of Americans would support his bid.