George Clooney sells his tequila company for a whopping $1 billion

George Clooney is making news and how. The actor and his human rights lawyer wife Amal Clooney recently became proud parents to twins. Now, Clooney seems to be doing away with his famous tequila brand Casamigos and selling it off to Diageo, reportedly for the whopping sum of close to $1 billion. [caption id=“attachment_3738755” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Casamigos. Image from Instagram[/caption] “If you asked us four years ago if we had a billion dollar company, I don’t think we would have said yes, this reflects Diageo’s belief in our company and our belief in Diageo. But we’re not going anywhere. We’ll still be very much a part of Casamigos. Starting with a shot tonight. Maybe two,” said Clooney as reported by CNBC. Diageo is all set to pay $700 million initially, with another $300 million to potentially be paid based on the performance of Casamigos over the course of the next 10 years. The deal is supposed to close during the latter half of 2017 and Diageo does not expect the deal that they’ve made to add to their earnings until the fourth year. Casamigos is not expected to have an impact on Diageo’s earnings for the first three years, according to the same CNBC report. George Clooney along with Casamigo’s co-owners Michael Meldman and Rande Gerber are expected to stay closely connected with the tequila company even after the Diageo acquisition. Meldman is also a real estate tycoon and Gerber is the founder of the nightlife companies Gerber Group and Midnight Oil. Casamigos, translating to “house of friends,” started off as a private collection of tequilas that were just meant for Clooney and Gerber’s family and friends. In 2013 however, the men decided to go public with their label when they had  However, in 2013, the team made the label public when they had to get licensed in order to continue making the tequila. “It immediately took off. Right now, we’re the fastest growing ultra-premium tequila in the country,” said Gerber according to another CNBC report.