After a courageous battle with cancer, Jack Penrod, visionary founder of Nikki Beach Hospitality Group, has passed away. He died on Monday, 3 February 2025.
From humble beginnings, his journey became a story of both remarkable success and heartbreak.
Penrod spent his career harnessing marketing skills and building his life's legacy. From a cook to the owner of one of the largest McDonald's franchises, Penrod later found more success as the owner of several independent hospitality ventures in the state of Miami.
In 1988, he launched Penrod's Beach Club in South Beach, helping to transform the area from a quiet retirement community into a vibrant tourist destination.
Such was his contribution to the local commerce and social mobility, he was even honoured by the state with his own Jack Penrod Day on 17 April 2012.
Despite his successes in the world of business, Penrod's life was chequered with tragedy too. In 1997, his 18-year old daughter Nicole died in a car accident.
To honour her memory, he founded the original Nikki Beach a year later on the site of Penrod's Beach Club.
Built on a "celebration of life" philosophy, Nikki Beach would go on to become a global luxury lifestyle and hospitality brand, synonymous with music, food and fashion. Today, the brand is an international chain, including the flagship Ibiza location.
A boundless enthusiasm for life and business has left a lasting legacy.
He is survived by his wife and CEO of Nikki Beach, Lucia Penrod, who said this of his passing: "I shared an extraordinary life with Jack. As a life partner, father and businessman, he was everything one could dream of.
Jack was humble, loving, intelligent and kind, with a truly magnetic adventurous spirit. We will keep his spirit alive through years of fond memories."
Nikki Beach Ibiza and the rest of the empire will continue in Jack and Nicole's honour this summer, just as he would have intended it to. We intend to raise a glass in respect to the man and his life's passion.
