Bad News for Bill Gates

Anheuser-Busch, one of the largest producers of beer in the world, lost more than 30% of Bud Light’s core profit after partnering with transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney. Despite a crippling $40 billion loss in revenue last quarter, Bill Gates has recently invested a significant amount of money into the sinking brand.

After the brand was accused of alienating its consumers by collaborating with a person who does not represent their target market, many Americans called for a boycott of Bud Light and every brand of beer that is owned by Anheuser-Busch. Millions of Bud Light drinkers across the country did not support Bud Light using Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesperson, and the company was faced with intense backlash as a result.

The transgender influencer rose to fame in early 2022, as Mulvaney chronicled the process of transitioning from male to female in a TikTok series called “Days of Girlhood.” Mulvaney caught the attention of Anheuser-Busch and eventually partnered with the beer maker to promote Bud Light. Mulvaney became part of a controversial campaign that featured her face on the side of Bud Light Beer cans.

In fact, Gates recently showed his support for Bud Light by investing nearly $100 million into the dwindling beer business. Gates, who is outspoken about his liberal political views, did not seem to care that Bud Light’s stock has been on the decline for months since the scandal.

Anson Frericks, former Anheuser-Busch president of operations, believes that Bill Gates has made a very poor financial decision by investing in the company. “Bill Gates is definitely making a mistake,” he said. “Earlier this year, he already made a $900 million mistake when he invested [in] one of Anheuser-Busch’s largest rivals, Heineken.”

Frericks panned the tech mogul for his unwise investments in beer brands, saying, “If I was looking for advice on investing in software companies, tech companies, I might go to Bill Gates. But if you’re looking at the beer industry, he doesn’t have a great track record of investing in winners at this point.”

Frericks is concerned that Bill Gates’ endorsement won’t receive a positive reaction from “everyday” beer drinkers. It’s safe to assume that most people can’t relate to Gates due to his astronomical wealth and position in society, and Frericks thinks that average beer buyers won’t want to purchase any product he endorses.

“For the company’s sake, they’d probably be better off [with] maybe somebody who is more of, the everyman type of person, maybe like a Rob Gronkowski or somebody like that was investing into Anheuser-Busch, not necessarily somebody like Bill Gates,” he said. While Gronkowski is an elite-level athlete, he is still more relatable and generally well-liked by the public than Gates

As of now, Bill Gates has already lost around $1.5 million of his investment and will likely continue to lose more as the stock continues to plummet. In May, Frericks said that the boycott of Anheuser-Busch products was “getting worse and worse” – and he was right. More than four months later, Anheuseur-Busch has yet to climb back into the good graces of the general public.

Bud Light may have reigned supreme for several years, but the business failed to understand the importance of honoring its loyal fan base. “Consumers feel like they’re having an impact,” he said. “And every single week these sales numbers are being reported, and they’re getting worse and worse every single week.”

With so much of their demographic long gone, many believe that Bud Light’s glory days are long over. Anheuser-Busch “Consumers have made a choice,” said an unidentified executive at a beer distributor. “They have left [Bud Light] and that’s how it’s going to be. I don’t envision a big percentage of them coming back.”

While Gates continues to lose money on his investment in Bud Light, a new beer has climbed the ranks as America’s favorite. Modelo Especial, which has outsold Bud Light week after week and currently ranks in the number one spot for beer sales.