William Wirtz | Sarah Jessica Parker | King | Illinois

Frank is smart that way. His marketing innovations over the past 30 years have helped him sell booze to legions of frat boys and millions of cocktailing yuppies. Among other things, credit Frank with the idea of having attractive men and women "model" adult beverages during promotional events. His Jägerettes and Jägerdudes sparked a slew of scantily clad copycats. And Frank's Grey Goose, a brand his company built from scratch, almost single-handedly created the superpremium category of vodka brands. But since Frank was already at retirement age when Jägermeister took off, and was old enough to be Sarah Jessica Parker's grandfather when she ordered a round of Grey Goose cosmos on Sex and the City, he hasn't made his brands about himself.

Except, that is, to the people who sell his brands to you and me - the liquor distributors. To those people, Frank is every bit as Crunk as Lil' Jon. To them, he's the king of booze. "Sidney is a showman," says William Wirtz, a longtime customer and friend who owns both the top liquor distributorship in Illinois and a controlling interest in the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks. "When he walks into a room, he gets your attention."

No doubt he does. When Frank is doing business, distributors say, he's usually clad in either a green or pink sport coat and a big polka-dot bow tie. His cigar is lit, his voice is whirring, and, best of all, he's prepared. "Sidney is a tireless worker," Wirtz says. "That rubs off on everyone at his company. When you meet with them, they always have everything thought out - the demographics of the product, the right point-of-purchase displays, the bar promotions … everything it takes to sell."