John Bello

John Joseph Bello (born March 30, 1946 in New Britain, CT) is an American entrepreneur best known for creating and building the SoBe brand of New Age beverages.

Bello grew up in Plainville, Connecticut, the son of the late Generoso “Jerry” and Edith (Melito) Bello. He is a 1964 graduate of Plainville High School in Plainville, Connecticut, where he played football, was student council president and was named to The National Honor Society. Bello went on to matriculate at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, on a Navy ROTC scholarship. There, he played football for two years, was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity, and played drums in a rock band called “The What Four.” He earned a bachelor's degree cum laude in history in 1968. While at Tufts he also met the former Nancy Nelson, to whom he was married 1969.

Upon his graduation from Tufts, Bello was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Navy and served a four-year tour that included a tour of duty in South Vietnam as Supply Officer for PBR Mobile Base II on the Mekong Delta with a mission of combat support for several river patrol boat (PBR) squadrons. He was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V for meritorious service. In 1972, After Vietnam, Bello was assigned to the Moffett Field Naval Air Station Moffett Field as the Navy Exchange Officer. He resigned his commission as a Lieutenant to attend graduate school.

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