Mark Brown Biography

Mark Brown is the Executive Chairman of Sazerac Company, Inc., which has operations in Frankfort, Bardstown, Louisville, and Owensboro, Kentucky; New Orleans, Louisiana; Fredericksburg, Virginia; Carson, California; Baltimore, Maryland; Lewiston, Maine; Londonderry, New Hampshire; and Montreal, Canada. 

Brown got his start in the beverage alcohol business at a relatively young age when he began working in his family’s pub business in the U.K. in 1971. In 1976 Brown joined British cider-maker H.P. Bulmer as a salesperson, and by 1979 was a Sales Trainer. He came to the United States in 1980, operating as the U.S. Field Sales Manager for Bulmer.

From 1981 to 1992 he served as Director of New Products, National Sales Manager and, eventually, Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Sazerac.

Brown left Sazerac and joined Brown-Forman (no relation) as Senior Vice President and COO of the Select Brands Group for two years. He then spent the next three years as President of the Advancing Markets Group, before returning to Sazerac in June 1997.

Brown holds an MBA from Tulane University in New Orleans. He and his wife Jane have two sons, Thomas and Sam.

Employment Timeline:
1971 - Pub business in the U.K.
1976 - Salesperson; H.P. Bulmer
1979 - Sales Trainer; H.P. Bulmer
1980 - Field Sales Manager; H.P. Bulmer (USA)
1981 - Director, New Products, New Markets; Sazerac Company Inc.
1983 - National Sales Manager; Sazerac Company Inc.
1986 - VP Sales & Marketing; Sazerac Company Inc.
1992 - SVP & COO Select Brands; Brown-Forman
1994 - President, Advancing Markets Groups; Brown-Forman
1997 – President and CEO, Sazerac Company Inc.
2023 - Executive Chairman, Sazerac Company Inc.