From a modest Dublin brewery in the 18th century to one of the world’s most recognisable brands, the Guinness family has produced a dynasty of visionary brewers, philanthropists, politicians, and socialites. The family’s empire survived wars, rivalries, and even a global merger. Today, its name remains as iconic as ever.
With Netflix's House of Guinness reigniting interest in history's most famous drinks dynasty, read on to discover the family's successes and scandals, and how it made a fortune steeped in stout...
All dollar amounts in US dollars.
The story starts on 28 September 1725, when Arthur Guinness was born in a malt house in Celbridge, Ireland. His dad was a land steward, and young Arthur was likely introduced to the craft through workers on the Celbridge estate. His godfather and financial backer was none other than the Archbishop of Cashel, Dr Arthur Price.
It was Price’s £100 inheritance (around $30k/£22k in today's money) that allowed the budding brewer to get his start, purchasing his first lot at Leixlip. Yes, an archbishop helped launch one of the world's most iconic alcoholic drinks.
In 1759, Arthur spotted his big break. Dublin’s beer market was collapsing under English imports, and the entrepreneur cut an incredible deal to lease a small disused brewery at St James’s Gate for £45 a year (around $13k£10k today) for a ridiculous 9,000 years. It cost him nearly everything, including his entire inheritance.
Conveniently positioned beside the River Liffey, St James’s Gate gave Guinness access to fresh water. Soon the blossoming beer brand was shipping barrels across the Irish Sea to Liverpool and Bristol. Doubling down at St James's Gate, Arthur hired his brother Richard to look after the 'black gold' at Leixlip.
Just as everything was coming together, Dublin City Corporation tried to cut off the brewery’s water, claiming Guinness had no rights to it. Along with a sheriff, officials were said to have marched into St James's Gate to manually turn off the taps. But Arthur fought back.
After threatening to dig his own channel, the officials backed off and deferred the dispute to the courts. The decade-long legal drama resulted in Guinness agreeing to pay £10 a year (around $2.4k/£1.8k today) for permanent water rights. This victory ensured the family fortune for generations to come.
By 1800, Arthur had abandoned traditional ale entirely, focusing instead on his booming porter trade. He brewed several types – 'town porter', 'keeping porter', and 'superior porter' – which aimed to be darker, stronger, and more profitable than rival English ales. This would become the Guinness family's first money-making machine.
Around the same time, Arthur’s eldest son, Arthur Guinness II, began his apprenticeship at St James’s Gate. By the time his father died in 1803, the younger Arthur had already helped his dad expand the brewery’s production capacity and make Guinness Dublin's largest brewing company.
After his father passed, Arthur turned the company into a global trade magnet, exporting stout to England, the Caribbean, and even West Africa. Just as (or even more) importantly, he also fathered nine children, creating a dynasty that would eventually make the company richer than he could ever have imagined.
The tenure of the second Arthur Guinness began with record success. In 1815 Guinness sold 66,672 barrels, its best year yet. But two years later, the post-Napoleonic depression hit Britain hard. Sales plummeted to 27,185 barrels in 1823, and the company's income almost halved.
While the business was entering its rockiest period, the Guinness family members were making names for themselves amongst society’s elite. Arthur II became a banker and philanthropist, while his sister Elizabeth served as Dublin’s First Lady in 1809.
His other sisters, Louisa and Mary Anne, married influential clergymen, while Reverend Hosea Guinness became one of Dublin’s most respected churchmen. For the first time, the Guinness name stood for more than beer and would soon become a symbol of social prestige.
By the time of Arthur’s death in 1855, the economy had mostly recovered, and Guinness was now known worldwide due to the global expansion he had spearheaded. The next man to take the reins at Guinness was Arthur's eldest son, Benjamin Lee Guinness (pictured).
Under his watch, the company invested in more reliable shipping methods like railways and adopted its now-iconic harp trademark (registered 1876). His bustling public life also propped up his reputation as a business tycoon. He became the first Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1851 and later the first Guinness to be elected to the House of Commons.
By the time of his death in 1868, Benjamin was Ireland's wealthiest man with a personal fortune estimated at £1 million, the equivalent of around $200 million (£150m) in today's money.
When Benjamin Lee died in 1868, he left behind not only a vast fortune (he parted with the biggest will the Irish probate system had ever had to prove at the time), but two ambitious sons. The St James’s Gate brewery passed jointly to Edward Cecil Guinness and his elder brother, Arthur Edward Guinness (both pictured).
Both were wealthy, well-educated, and heirs to a business now worth millions. But where Edward was a hard-headed businessman, Arthur's money-making goggles were tinted with social responsibility. The stage was set for one of the most defining sibling rivalries in Guinness history – one that would split the family fortune and shape its future.
Under Edward’s leadership, Guinness scaled up massively. By 1879, production topped 565,000 hogsheads (around 25 million gallons or 114 million litres). Within seven years, output neared a mammoth 907,000 hogsheads, and Edward made the bold decision to float two-thirds of the company on the London Stock Exchange.
He remained the largest shareholder and became, by many accounts, the richest man in Ireland, just like his father. With an estimated net worth of over £12 million (around $2bn/£1.5bn today), he was also one of the richest men in Europe.
While Edward transformed Guinness into a global juggernaut, Arthur channelled his wealth into philanthropy and politics. He was initially elected as a Conservative MP in 1868, but his victory was voided when it was found that agents representing Arthur had used corruption and bribery to win votes. He won his seat back in the next parliamentary term.
Arthur was childless and often described as lonely. Biographers suggest his marriage to Olivia White was possibly ‘arranged’ or a front for his own homosexuality, which was illegal at the time.
By 1876, the brothers’ relationship had reached breaking point. Arthur sold his entire stake in Guinness to Edward for £600,000 (roughly $120m/£90m today) – a move that cemented Edward as the sole owner of the business. Biographers suggest Arthur’s decision was partly due to frustration with corporate politics and social obligations.
Whatever the reason, the sale divided the family and went on to define both of their legacies.
Despite the divide, both men were committed to continuing the Guinness tradition of philanthropy. Towards the tail-end of his rule, Edward established the Guinness Trust in London (now known as the Guinness Partnership) and the Iveagh Trust in Dublin. Both are initiatives to provide affordable housing and tackle homelessness.
Meanwhile, Arthur financed major Dublin restoration projects, including St Stephen’s Green, which he reopened as a public park in 1880, and St Patrick’s Cathedral. Their sister Anne also founded St Patrick’s Nursing Home in 1876.
Guinness took a different approach from many other businesses of the time, many of which were accused of exploiting workers. From the 1880s onward, employees at St James’s Gate enjoyed 10% higher pay than Dublin’s average, alongside perks like pensions, free meals, medical care, and even annual holidays.
The company’s in-house medical centre offered free healthcare decades before the National Health Service (NHS). Workers also received a daily beer allowance and annual excursions.
Then came World War I – and while Europe bled, Guinness kept brewing. Of the 3,250 men employed at St James’s Gate, about 800 volunteered for military service. During these years, the company promised to hold their jobs open, pay half their wages to families, and offered £250 (around $34k/£25k today) to next of kin if they were killed.
Guinness remained profitable during the war. Production dipped slightly from 2.6 million barrels in 1914 to 2.3 million in 1918, but demand stayed strong, especially since stout was considered a nutritious beverage.
A decade later, the rule of Edward Cecil came to an end and his son Rupert Guinness (the 2nd Earl of Iveagh) took over the company. Trading off attitudes that stout was a nutritious drink, the brand's first blockbuster campaign and national advertising arrived in the form of the famous “Guinness is Good for You” slogan. It wouldn't fly now but in 1929, it more than did the job.
On the subject of flying, John Gilroy was subsequently tasked with creating the toucan-era posters that would define the brand's image for decades. Little is known about how these advertisements at the time directly affected sales, but demand grew enough that Guinness opened a second brewery at Park Royal in 1936.
Through both World Wars, Guinness remained remarkably stable despite grain rationing and enlistment losses. By 1950, the brewery was producing over 2.5 million barrels a year. During World War II, Guinness continued its welfare measures, ensuring employees’ pay, benefits, and family support.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Guinness poured millions into research and development (R&D), establishing cutting-edge laboratories that studied yeast strains, fermentation, and flavour chemistry. The period also heralded a stronger push for international market presence. In 1962, Guinness built a brewery in Nigeria, which is now one of its most profitable markets.
From messing around in the lab to messing around with finances: the end of the century was creeping closer and Guinness was about to endure yet another rocky spell, marred by stagnation and scandal. Taste buds were changing, and sales began to stall.
To revive fortunes, CEO Ernest Saunders led the 1986 takeover of Distillers Company (maker of Johnnie Walker whisky). But to prop up the share price during the bid, Saunders and a group of businessmen secretly used company funds to inflate demand.
When exposed, the 'Guinness Four' as they became known (Saunders, businessman Gerald Ronson, stockbroker Anthony Parnes, and financier Jack Lyons) were convicted of share-trading fraud in 1990. The scandal destroyed corporate credibility and ended Guinness’s independence.
In 1997, Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan – the owners of Smirnoff, Baileys, and Burger King – to form Diageo, a new drinks giant and the largest beverage company in the world at the time. The deal ended more than 200 years of family control, but secured Guinness’s survival in a merciless market.
In 2000, Diageo opened the Guinness Storehouse at St James’s Gate as a tourist attraction. More than two decades later, it has welcomed over 25 million visitors, serves more than 1.5 million pints annually, and even runs its own 'Guinness Academy', training over 100,000 pint-pouring experts.
It’s estimated that the Storehouse alone generates €300 million ($350m/£260m) a year in tourism for Dublin, proving Guinness has found a way to make a fortune from its incredible history. But what's happened to the family now that they no longer have sole control of the business?
Some modern-day descendants of the Guinness family are still intertwined with the Irish powerhouse’s philanthropic arm, while others have sought pastures new.
According to the Sunday Times' Rich List in 2025, the whole Guinness family fortune stands at £856 million ($1.13bn), so the dynasty’s ridiculous riches live on. Let's take a closer look at the modern-day Guinness family descendants...
Arthur Edward 'Ned' Rory Guinness (4th Earl of Iveagh) is the current head of the Guinness family. Ned oversees the 22,500-acre Elveden Estate in Suffolk, one of the largest privately farmed estates in England. The 56-year-old Lord has two sons, including one named Arthur, who is set to inherit his father's title. Where have we seen this before...?
Just one look at her strong bone structure and signature hair-do (which stands almost as tall as a pint of you-know-what), and it's easy to see how Daphne Guinness has carved a lucrative career in modelling.
As the granddaughter of Diana Mitford and great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Arthur Guinness, Daphne inherited part of the family fortune. She's since carried the Guinness name into the world of fashion and art, modelling for the likes of Alexander McQueen and Karl Lagerfeld.
Similar to her cousin Daphne, Charteris has made strides in the world of modelling, posing for designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Tom Ford.
Outside of that, she's involved in the music scene as a DJ and is married to Robbie Furze of English band The Big Pink. Celebrity news sources estimate her net worth at around $4 to $6 million (£3m to £4.5m).
Born in 1976, Jasmine Guinness is a model, designer, and philanthropist and is descended from Arthur Guinness through the Iveagh line. She's modelled for brands like Versace, Burberry, and Harrods, and appeared on magazine covers from Elle to Tatler.
However, despite her social standing, Jasmine claims she's not been entitled to wealth through being a Guinness. In an interview with British newspaper The Guardian, she said she had no trust fund and did not expect to inherit large sums at any point in her life, adding: “there are so many of us now that there isn’t enough money to go around”.
Daphne and Jasmine’s cousin Jack has been one of the most outspoken family voices since the release of Netflix’s House of Guinness. The polished socialite and writer has been busy offering fans rare glimpses into the modern-day descendants of Ireland’s most famous brewing dynasty.
Starting out as a model for Dunhill and Gucci, Jack later swapped the catwalk for writing, contributing to The Sunday Times, British GQ, and The Guardian. He then went on to found The Queer Bible, a platform celebrating LGBTQ+ culture and creativity. His exact net worth is unknown, but thanks to his writing, media work, and brand partnerships, he's believed to be a millionaire.
Married to playwright Sir Tom Stoppard and once linked romantically to King Charles (pictured right), TV producer Sabrina has an estimated net worth of around $13.4 million (£10m). She is descended from Samuel Guinness, the brother of Arthur.
Her involvement in charities, including co-founding the Youth Cable Television Trust which is now part of The Prince’s Trust Media, continues the Guinness penchant for turning privilege into philanthropy.
Half-siblings Rory and Rebecca (pictured right and centre) are descended from the Guinness family on their fathers' sides; their fathers are reportedly brothers Finn and Kieran Guinness.
In the early 2000s, Rory dabbled in music and performance, fronting rock band The Primary before turning to writing and family life. Meanwhile, his sister Rebecca is a fashion stylist and creative based in London. The pair briefly moved to New York in the 2000s. Their net worths are unknown.
Now discover the incredible story of 'the richest girl in the world'