With Bronfman’s enormous assistance, a substantial chunk of the world’s financial system became devoted to moving, laundering, and investing drug money. From the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank, to the offshore havens in the Caribbean, to the biggest banks in the United States, Britain, Canada, and Switzerland, the system revolved around drug money.
With the repeal of Prohibition and with the Shanghai opium deal in operation, the Bronfmans “went legit.” The new phase of respectability signaled that the most successful big time whiskey bootleggers were switching to big time narcotics.
In the mid-1990s, Bronfman, Jr. sold Seagram’s stake in DuPont receiving $11 billion. Seagram acquired 84 percent of MCA, Inc. for $5.7 billion. MCA – whose name Seagram changed to
Universal Studios, Inc. – included Universal Pictures film studios, MCA Television Group, MCA Music Entertainment Group, Universal theme parks, and Spencer Gifts.
In 1997, Seagram divested its holdings in Time Warner, ending up with a profit of $2.13 billion. Seagram then purchased
USA Networks.