Bill Gates buys Anheuser-Busch shares during Bud Light slump

Bill Gates has made a US$95 million bet on AB InBev after buying Anheuser-Busch shares amid the business’s troubles with its Bud Light brand.

According to reports highlighting details from a regulatory filing, last quarter the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust bought 1.7 million Anheuser-Busch shares valued at around US$95 million. The timing of the stock being bought was reported to be around the time AB InBev reported earnings that encompassed its Bud Light brand falling from favour.

Despite Gates’ move signalling his confidence in the company, so far the trust has lost money on his investment with the Anheuser-Busch stock reportedly being down nearly 2% since it was bought and now showing a nosedive of approximately 7% for the year.

Last month, AB InBev also revealed that its US revenue plummeted 10% in the second quarter, impacted by falling Bud Light sales and in July began laying off hundreds of workers across its US corporate staff.

Incidentally, this is not Gates’ only investment into beer this year. In February, the Microsoft billionaire spent €850 million on a 3.76% stake in Heineken, despite admitting he is “not a big beer drinker”.

Gates was the richest man in the world for 15 consecutive years from 1995 to 2010, and again from 2013 to 2017.