JOSÉ "PEPE" FANJUL JR.

CO-PRESIDENT, FANJUL CORP., WEST PALM BEACH

The Fanjul family’s roots in sugarcane date back to the 1850s in Cuba. After fleeing Fidel Castro’s regime, the family started anew in 1960 by creating Florida Crystals — a small sugarcane farming and milling company in Pahokee near Lake Okeechobee. Over the next six decades, with farmland purchases and strategic acquisitions, Florida Crystals grew into a fully integrated sugarcane operation that covers 194,500 acres. Pepe Fanjul Jr. worked in investment banking prior to joining the family business in 2002. He’s now co-president of parent company Fanjul Corp. and holds leadership positions at several of its subsidiaries, which include Florida Crystals, ASR Group and FCI Residential Corp. Most recently, in September 2024, he was appointed president of subsidiary Central Romana Corp., the largest sugar producer in the Dominican Republic.