Hensley & Co.
In 1955, Hensley founded the beer distributorship that would have his name, borrowing $10,000 against everything he had to buy a small existing distributorship. He was given a state liquor license despite his normally disqualifying past felony conviction. At the start it had 15 workers, sold 73,000 cases of beer a year, and had a 6 percent market share. Hensley soon switched to exclusively distributing Anheuser-Busch beer. Under the early names Hensley & Company Distributors and Hensley & Company Wholesale, the company saw decades of steady growth. It was aided by the Phoenix area becoming one of the fastest-growing regions of the country while the company maintained its position as Anheuser-Busch's only distributor there. Jim Hensley's tireless sales efforts and the generous wages and benefits he gave employees were also key success factors. By 1980 the business had become quite successful and Jim Hensley was a multi-millionaire. Hensley had also distanced himself from Marley, and had helped set up a local hospital; nevertheless, he was never fully accepted by the Phoenix establishment.
In 1981, Hensley hired his new son-in-law John McCain, recently married to his daughter Cindy, as Vice President of Public Relations for Hensley & Co. McCain soon left to begin his Congressional career with a victory in the 1982 election for U.S. House of Representatives. Jim Hensley's past record with the law, as well as his past connection to Marley (who was suspected by the police in the 1976 car-bomb murder of Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles), were raised by McCain's opponent in the 1986 general election campaign for the U.S. Senate. McCain won that election handily.
As his business continued to grow, Hensley became one of Arizona's richest men, although he never sought publicity. He held most of the controlling stock in Hensley & Co., although by 2000 his health was poor and he had withdrawn from daily operational control. With 500 employees, annual revenues at the time were about $220 million on 20 million cases of beer sold; Hensley & Co. was the second-largest Anheuser-Busch distributor in the nation, the fifth-largest beer distributorship overall in the nation and the 12th largest privately held company in Arizona. Jim Hensley was a major contributor to charity in the Phoenix metropolitan area as well, starting the Hensley Family Foundation. He also supported groups such as NASCAR and Gilbert Rodeo Days.
Hensley died in Phoenix on June 21, 2000. His frequently-amended will left his entire estate to Cindy Hensley McCain, who became the controlling stockholder and chair of the board after his death. His first daughter Kathleen, her husband and children had received substantial ongoing gifts, credit cards, and college tuition payments in the decade before his death, but were left only one modest lump sum from his estate.
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