Boar’s Head earns $1B annually. There’s a feud between the families in control
A court battle is brewing between the two families that control the meat company Boar’s Head, which is said to bring in an estimated $1 billion per year.
The New York Daily News reported that the death of Barbara Brunckhorst, the daughter of Boar’s Head founder Frank Brunckhorst, in November set off a feud over the company’s fortune between the Brunckhorst and Bischoff families, who have shared ownership of the business since it started in 1905.
Frank Brunckhorst III, the Boar’s Head founder’s grandson and Barbara Brunckhorst’s nephew, said in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court that his aunt’s dying wish was that a “substantial portion” of her share of the company go to environmental charities and neuroscience research, according to the Daily News.
He said he had a “deep bond” with Barbara and plans to carry out her wish.
Eric Bischoff, the grandson of Bruno Bischoff, who was Frank Brunckhorst’s brother-in-law, however, is now claiming that Barbara’s portion of the company belongs to him, according to the Daily News.
“Eric, apparently motivated by breathtaking greed, asserts and threatens to pursue claims that Frank is not entitled to acquire the Barbara Brunckhorst Shares,” the suit says, according to the Daily News. “Eric appeared prepared to line his own pockets at the expense of the charities that were so important to Barbara to support.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Eric Bischoff “is litigious, and historically has sought ways to increase his stake in the Company through various suits against family members,” according to the Daily News.
According to the Daily News, the company has been split between the Brunckhorst and Bischoff families since 1905, when the elder Frank Brunckhorst and Bruno Bischoff started selling hams and other meats from a horse-drawn wagon in Brooklyn.
Frank Brunckhorst III’s official position and title at Boar’s Head was not clear, the Daily News noted, but the lawsuit says he qualifies as “an active employee.”
Eric Bischoff, however, is not an employee of the company and has not been involved in the business’s daily operations since 2008, according to the newspaper, citing the lawsuit.
The Hill reached out to Boar’s Head for comment.