Who owns Don Julio?
Don Julio is owned by Diageo (the United Kingdom, LSE: DGE), which has owned the brand since 2015.[1]
Evidence: Diageo plc Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-08-18, SEC EDGAR, 18 August 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Diageo plc verified
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom, London
- Origin
- 🇲🇽 Mexico, Jalisco
- Founded
- 1942
- Category
- Beverages › Spirits › Tequila & mezcal
- Parent ticker
- LSE: DGE NYSE: DEO
- Trademark registrant
- DIAGEO MÉXICO COMERCIALIZADORA, S.A. DE C.V. (USPTO)
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About Don Julio
Don Julio is a Jalisco tequila house founded in 1942 by Don Julio González, who was seventeen when he began distilling and who introduced the short bottle so guests could see each other across the table. Diageo took full ownership in a 2014 asset swap with Beckmann family interests.
What Diageo's annual report says about Don Julio
Sentences about Don Julio from Diageo's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Tequila net sales declined 21.1%, driven by both Don Julio and Casamigos, reflecting a softer category, increased competitive intensity, and tough comparatives in the prior period and both brands lost share.
Don Julio net sales declined 19.2% with depletions down 10.1%, lapping inventory replenishment and double-digit growth last year.
Don Julio grew strongly, continuing to lead the emerging tequila category.
How often Diageo names Don Julio in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named less often than it was three years earlier.
Trademark record for Don Julio
The USPTO record for the Don Julio mark lists DIAGEO MÉXICO COMERCIALIZADORA, S.A. DE C.V. as the owner of record (serial number 74452910). That name matches the owner named above.[2]
Ownership timeline of Don Julio
Where Don Julio sits in Diageo
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Diageo ownership tree →
See the full Diageo brand portfolio (23) →
Other brands owned by Diageo
Diageo controls 23 brands on Brandtree, 23 of them in beverages.
Also in beverages
- Baileys (1974)
- Buchanan's (1884)
- Bulleit (1987)
- Captain Morgan (1944)
- Cardhu (1824)
- Casamigos (2013)
- Cîroc (2003)
- Crown Royal (1939)
- Gordon's (1769)
- Guinness (1759)
- Guinness 0.0 (2020)
- Johnnie Walker (1820)
- Lagavulin (1816)
- Oban (1794)
- Pimm's (1823)
- Roe & Co (2017)
- Ron Zacapa (1976)
- Smirnoff (1864)
Other brands in tequila & mezcal, and who owns them
The 14 brands in tequila & mezcal on Brandtree belong to 7 owners. The largest is Becle, with 5; Diageo has 2.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | Becle | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| KAH Tequila | Amber Beverage Group | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg |
| el Jimador | Brown-Forman | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Patrón | Bacardi | 🇧🇲 Bermuda |
| Espolòn | Campari Group | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
| Casa Noble | Constellation Brands | 🇺🇸 United States |
| 400 Conejos | Becle | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| Gran Centenario | Becle | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
About the owner: Diageo
Diageo is a publicly listed company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, founded in 1997. Brandtree records 23 brands under its control, and it is listed as LSE: DGE and NYSE: DEO.
Diageo was formed in 1997 by the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan. It is the largest spirits company in the world, with a portfolio spanning Scotch whisky, vodka, gin, rum, tequila and stout.
🇲🇽 Don Julio and other Mexican brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 113 brands that began in Mexico. 28 of them (25%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Don Julio among them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Don Julio?
The parent company of Don Julio is Diageo, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Is Don Julio Mexican or British?
Don Julio originated in Mexico in 1942, but it is owned today by Diageo, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom. So Don Julio is a Mexican-origin brand under British ownership.
Since when has Diageo owned Don Julio?
Diageo has owned Don Julio since 2015.
Is Don Julio still owned by Diageo?
Yes. As of 9 October 2026, Don Julio is still owned by Diageo. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (2) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Diageo plc Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-08-18 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 20-F, published 18 August 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
- [2] USPTO: DON JULIO, serial 74452910, registration 2088472 — United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark registry; retrieved 27 September 2026.
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