Inside the Wonderful Empire: Assets, Mansions, and the Hidden Owners of Fiji Water

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The balance of power between a multinational corporate owner and a small island government reached a boiling point in late 2010. Fiji's military-led government, headed by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, announced a dramatic tax increase on commercial water extraction, raising the levy from one-third of a Fijian cent per liter to 15 Fijian cents per liter. The hike targeted entities extracting more than 3.5 million liters a month, a threshold that effectively applied solely to Fiji Water.

The Resnicks fought back with corporate brinkmanship. They immediately shut down the bottling plant, placed hundreds of local employees on leave, and canceled contracts with regional freight suppliers. The Fijian government held firm, issuing an ultimatum: reopen the plant and pay the tax, or the state would revoke the extraction license and award the aquifer lease to a competitor. Stewart Resnick blinked within 48 hours. The company reopened the facility, swallowed the tax increase, and resumed exports, proving that the rare brand value of the Fijian spring was too lucrative to abandon over balance-sheet friction.