Seagram Company
In 1982, Bronfman returned to the Seagram Company, before moving to London to become managing director of Seagram Europe. In 1984, Bronfman returned to New York as President of the House of Seagram, the company's U.S. marketing division. By 1994, he became the Chief Executive Officer, where he began a move away from the traditional liquor business and into entertainment. According to Cigar Aficionado, Edgar Jr. led the family on a series of disastrous business deals, ultimately losing the family's ownership of Seagram.
The first step in this diversification was the widely criticised sale of Seagram's stake in DuPont. In 1981, Edgar Bronfman Sr. had sold Seagram's stake in Conoco to DuPont, in exchange for almost 25% of the chemical giant. This stake in DuPont, by 1995, represented about 70% of Seagram's total earnings. Nevertheless, Bronfman Jr., acting as Seagram CEO, approached DuPont about buying back its shares.
With the proceeds of the $9 billion sale (equivalent to $19 billion in 2025), Bronfman Jr. went on an expansion into the entertainment business, in music through the acquisition of PolyGram ($10.6 billion), and in film entertainment through MCA and Universal Pictures ($5.7 billion) from Matsushita. However, the new entertainment conglomerate he created had a brief life, before needing a strategic partner. Bronfman Jr., then led Seagram into a controversial all-stock acquisition by French conglomerate Vivendi in 2000 for $34 billion. Bronfman Jr., became an executive at the new company, Vivendi Universal, but the Seagram company effectively lost control of its entertainment businesses. Meanwhile, the beverage division—the core of Seagram — was acquired by Pernod Ricard (39 per cent) and Diageo (61 per cent) for $8.15 billion.
In December 2001, Bronfman announced he was stepping down from his executive role at Vivendi Universal, but remaining as vice chair of the board.
In 2002, Bronfman joined private investment firm Accretive LLC as General Partner. The firm focuses on conducting deep market research and hand-selecting firms to back. Among its past projects are Accretive Health and Fandango (ticket service). Companies it currently backs include human resources firm AlphaStaff and small-business insurance company Insureon.
