Bill Gates recently bought 1.7 million shares of Bud Light at a time when the brand was in a vulnerable position. The total investment amounted to US$95 million.
The man who was twice considered the world’s richest man, from 1995 to 2010 and again from 2013 to 2017, has now acquired part of the world’s largest brewing company AB InBev. However, this acquisition comes at an unfavorable time for the group, as its shares are in decline.
During the past quarter, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation bought shares of Bud Light when the brand was struggling. The acquisition was made after Anheuser-Busch reported negative results for the company. However, this is not the only investment in breweries that Bill Gates has made, as he also bought shares in the Dutch company Heineken for a value of 850 million and a 3.76% stake.
Despite the investment made by Gates, it has not yielded positive results as AB InBev’s share value has declined by 2% since the purchase and is expected to fall further by up to 7% by the end of the year. In addition, the company’s revenues fell 10% in the last quarter, leading to a large number of layoffs in the United States.
