We’re all grown-ups here. What’s going on?” —Anheuser-Busch insider, on The Fourth’s trip to Tampa While The Fourth’s encounters with SABMiller and InBev and the meeting he engineered in Cancun naïvely sent up a few flares, his instincts were right. Anheuser-Busch was vulnerable. He actually contributed to the problem just before his official start as CEO, however, when he pushed ahead with his joint venture with InBev despite warnings from his father. The companies had first considered a deal to make Anheuser the exclusive U.S. importer of InBev’s European brands back in early 2005, when Pat Stokes was chief executive. They spent roughly half a year working through the terms of an agreement before talks collapsed. They tried again the next year after Carlos Brito, who had been stationed up in Toronto during the first round of negotiations, was named CEO of InBev. This time, Brito dealt directly with August IV, who was just a few months shy of becoming CEO. Negotiations were held and information was exchanged, but yet again, the talks broke apart.
What do You think about Dethroning The King (2010)?
