Sidney E. Frank (October 2, 1919 – January 10, 2006) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He became a billionaire through his promotion of Grey Goose vodka and Jägermeister. Early life, family, education Frank was born to a Jewish family in Montville, Connecticut. His father and mother were Abraham and Sarah Frank. He grew up in Norwich, Connecticut, and graduated from the Norwich Free Academy in 1937. He attended Brown University (class of 1942) but left because he could only afford one year of tuition. He later made enormous gifts to the university to help ensure that no student would ever be forced to leave Brown because of inability to pay tuition. During World War II, Frank worked for Pratt and Whitney as a manufacturer's representative in India exploring ways to improve engine performance enabling aircraft to deal with the high altitudes encountered in the CBI theater. This was particularly important in improving the performance of transport aircraft flying supplies into China. The use of alcohol injection for aircraft engines was one of the approaches taken. Career Frank's first wife, Louise "Skippy" Rosenstiel, was the daughter of Lewis Rosenstiel, founder of Schenley Industries, one of the largest American distiller and spirit importers. Frank joined Schenley after his marriage and rose to the company presidency, but was forced out in a family dispute in 1970. In 1973 his wife died and he started his own company, Sidney Frank Importing Company, where he served as chairman and chief executive officer. The company is based in New Rochelle, New York, where Frank lived (he had a home in Rancho Santa Fe, California, as well). In 1973, he secured the importing rights to Jägermeister, a traditional German digestif. Frank's first big success with his own company was with Jacques Cardin brandy, a brand he purchased from Seagram in 1979. In the 1980s, Jägermeister became popular with college students In Louisiana and Frank promoted it heavily, turning a specialty brand developed to help with digestion into a mainstream success widely drunk in ice cold shots and used in Jello shooters. In 1997, he developed Grey Goose vodka, made in France by François Thibault, and was so successful in promoting it that he sold the brand to Bacardi for $2 billion in June 2004. In the last years of his life, Frank bought the Travel Savvy and Business Traveler magazine titles for $4 million. Philanthropy Frank