Chivas Owner Was Once “Fat And Broke”, Is Now Chivas God

There isn’t anywhere in the United States or Mexico that doesn’t have a large population of Chivas fans. Weather you want to deck your Ranchero’s bucket seats with Chivas logos or sport your Chivas’ headband to the gym, you can almost find anything and everything stitched with an official Chivas logo these days. And that’s just how owner Jorge Vergara wants it.

In Mexico, fans can drink Chiva Cola, watch Chivas DVD players and even be buried in Chivas coffins, thanks to a licensing explosion. Chivas, which means “she-goats,” is so flush with cash that it is building a new stadium with its own money, not government funds.

It’s true. We hailed a street cab in Mexico City last week (home of the Aguilas) and jumped into a 100% Chivas-inspired monstrosity that put our Guadalajara-loving uncles to shame. This guy had neon Chivas lights, hubcaps, decals, bumper stickers, etc etc etc…but how in the world did Vergara make all of his dough to push this franchise into the next level of imperiousness?

In the 1980s Vergara was just another vendor in Guadalajara of carnitas, or tacos filled with high-fat roasted pig parts.
“I was fat, sick and broke,” Vergara said.
He began taking Herbalife vitamins, and then selling them. In 1991 he started his own company, Omnilife, to sell health drinks. That led to a plastic bottle factory, then a company to print the labels, an industrial park to house the factories, and so on. Omnilife now has 27 companies, including an insurance firm, a record label and an airplane charter service.

So all you have to do to get rich is go from fat, sick and broke to taking vitamins? Get us to GNC asap! No really, the Chivas really suck this year so Jorge will probably be fat and sick soon. Hardly broke.
Owner takes Chivas brand worldwide [USA Today]
Image [USA]