John Gutfreund isn't having a good summer. The former chief executive of Salomon Bros (and the man who ended Mike Bloomberg's career on Wall Street) has had the apartment at 834 Fifth Avenue he shares with wife Susan slapped with a $430,000 lien by the IRS. Fortunately he won't have to pay anything to drown his sorrows. His son, JP, started a tequila company last year. [NYP]
Tequila is the new vodka, haven't you heard? That's what J.P. Gutfreund—the 22-year-old son of John and Susan—is hoping at least. Notwithstanding the fact that marketers have been pushing just such an idea for a few years now, J.P.'s big business venture is a brand of tequila called Inocente, which Gutfreund and his backers at the Black Beverage Corporation have been busy promoting as the "other white liquor." J.P.'s been everywhere helping get out the message. He threw a party in the Hamptons with Brit singer Estelle, the Post "spotted" him "sipping" Inocente with Whitney Port in the Hamptons a few weekends ago (although J.P. probably wasn't too pleased to see his name misspelled). And the night before last, he hosted a tasting party, where he was photographed with a bevy of Upper East Side ladies (all tequila converts, we're guessing). The only problem with the marketing scheme?
