Does the Guinness Family Still Own Guinness? Here's What We Know

Fans of the popular Irish dry stout Guinness want to know if the Guinness family still owns the brewery. The beer was founded in 1759 by Arthur Guinness in Dublin, Ireland, according to Guinness Storehouse, and the tasty beer is one of the most popular brands in the world.

Arthur began building his now-global brand on the site of the former brewery at St. James’s Gate. His global expansion increased quickly, and by 1880, St. James’s Gate was the world's largest brewery. The dark, creamy stout still carries Arthur Guinness' signature on bottles and cans, as well as the harp — a heraldic symbol of Ireland — and the Guinness wordmark. The Guinness label was introduced in 1862 and trademarked in 1876.

The Guinness family does not still own the Guinness company. According to Elle, Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan in 1997 and formed Diageo plc, which now owns Guinness. The Guinness family does have a stake in Diageo, though, measuring in at about 200 million pounds in 2017 (per the Irish Independent).

A Netflix series about the brewery, House of Guinness, tells the story of Arthur creating and building the brand. The series traces the rise of the brand during the 19th century in Dublin, Ireland, as well as New York.

Lord Ned Iveagh is one of the heirs of the Guinness empire, and according to Business Insider, he and the Guinness family are worth $1.153 billion. The Telegraph reports that the 4th Earl of Iveagh's estate at Elveden Hall was used as a filming location for The Crown on Netflix. Other heirs of the Guinness family are sisters Jasmine Guinness and Celeste Guinness, the daughters of Patrick Guinness. Jasmine is a designer and model, and Celeste is a member of the all-female post-punk band, Deep Tan.

Lady Mary Charteris is the daughter of James Charteris, the 13th Earl of Wemyss and 9th Earl of March, and Guinness heir Caroline Ingrid. She is a model and a DJ. Daphne Guinness is another heir, the daughter of Jonathan, the 3rd Baron Moyne. The last Guinness heir is Ivana Lowell, the daughter of Guinness heiress Lady Caroline Blackwoodand and writer Ivan Moffat. Her stepfather is poet Robert Lowell. Ivana's sister Natalya died from a heroin overdose at 18.

Ivana was sexually abused by the husband of her nanny and suffered from burns over 70 percent of her body after an accident with a hot kettle. She nearly died from the accident, but she recovered and went on to have a cameo in GoldenEye. She also once dated Bob Weinstein.

According to the BBC, it was Ivana who had the idea for House of Guinness, and she got the idea while watching Downton Abby.

"Our family history was a lot juicier and more interesting than this," she said. "Plus, it was all true."