NOVEMBER 9, 2010
Apparently Robert Gibbs does have a backbone. He made his point and did not back down from the officials from India who changed the ground rules in the middle of the game. The prior agreement said each nation could have eight reporters in with the heads of state. When India unilaterally changed the number to five, Gibbs would have none of it. He emphatically told the officials from India it was eight or President Obama was leaving NOW. They backed down. Eight reporters were allowed in and so far Pres. Obama has not apologized to India for America. Finally, CHANGE has come to the White House, or at least to Obama.
The book I mentioned yesterday, “Dethroning the King: The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch, an American Icon” by Julie MacIntosh is full of stories about the various father-son combinations who have run the Budweiser empire, mostly without much care for the other. Budweiser is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. It is more recognizable than McDonald’s, Disney or Apple, according to people who track that sort of stuff. The company had an estimated value of between 40 and 50 billion dollars around 2008. That is when an unwanted suitor came calling, looking to buy the company.
At the time of the takeover August Busch III was in charge. He had taken control from his father in 1975. The Busch family has controlled the company since it began. Headquartered in St. Louis, MO, the family ran the theme parks in Virginia and Florida, owned Shamu, the killer whale, employed in Florida. The company kept a stable of over 250 of the famous Clydesdale horses stabled around the country used for company promotions and commercials. The company had a staff of twenty pilots on call to fly the fleet of Dassault Falcon corporate jets. Every office with a refrigerator at corporate headquarters had it full of Bud, Bud Lite and Michelob.
In 2008, a Brazilian company, InBev put Anheuser-Busch in its sights for a takeover. The 40 billion dollar Busch resisted. The Third, as August Busch III is called, wanted more. He argued, negotiated and out maneuvered InBev until they agreed to pay $70.00 a share. That priced the takeover at 52 billion dollar, making it the largest all-cash acquisition in the history of the business world.
The Third, who had become loved in his over 27 years of running the business was a hero, even to his detractors. The Busch family members were already rich when InBev arrived on the scene, now they were super-rich, thanks to the Third. He had always been intimidating to his employees, especially the executives, because he generally knew more than they did and it was their field to be an expert in. At Corporate meetings, he ran the show because he could. In the takeover struggle, he ignored many of his advisors and came out ahead. He won again and everybody was along for the ride.
More to come later.
Notable births on this date:
1731 Benjamin Banneker Ellicott MD, black mathematician/surveyor (Wash DC)
1905 James William Fulbright (Sen-D-Mo
1913 Hedy Lamarr actress (Ecstacy, Samson & Delilah)- NOT HEADLEY
1918 Spiro Theodore Agnew (R) 39th VP (1973-77), crook NICE DESCRIPTION
1931 Whitey Herzog baseball manager (St Louis Cardinals)
1932 Carl Perkins singer (Blue Suede Shoes)
1932 Carl Perkins singer (Blue Suede Shoes)
1934 Carl Sagan NYC, astronomer/author/professor (Cosmos, Broca's Brain)
1935 Bob Gibson Cardinal pitcher (Cy Young/NL MVP 1968) there was only 1
1969 Pepa rocker (Salt 'n' Pepa-Shake Ya Thang)
1974 Dah-ve Chodan actress (Tia-Uncle Buck)
Notable deaths on this date:
1953 Abdul-Aziz ibn Sa'ud founder of Saudi Arabia, dies (born c 1880)
1970 Charles DeGaulle French President, dies at 79
1970 William L Dawson (Rep-D-Ill), dies at 84
1988 John Mitchell former Attorney General, dies of heart attack in Washington
1991 Yves Montand actor, dies at 70 from a heart attack
Notable events on this date:
1526 Jews are expelled from Pressburg Hungary by Maria of Hapsburg
1799 Napoleon becomes dictator (1st consul) of France
1861 Battle of Piketon, KY
1862 US Grant issues orders to bar Jews from serving under him
1865 Conf Gen Lee surrenders to Union Gen Grant at Appomattox
1927 Giant Panda discovered, China
1953 Supreme Court rules Major League baseball exempt from anti-trust laws
1961 PGA eliminates Caucasians only rule
1965 5:16 PM, massive power failure in New Engl, & Ontario (NY blackout)
1971 John List kills family & moves to Colorado
1973 Ringo releases "Ringo" album
1982 Sugar Ray Leonard retires for the 1st time
1989 East Berlin opens its borders
1990 President Bush announces DOUBLING of US forces in Gulf
1538 German reformer Martin Luther declared: 'It would be a good thing if young people were wise and old people were strong, but God has arranged things better.'
1938 The worst Jewish pogrom in peacetime Germany took place as Nazi thugs led a "spontaneous" campaign of terror. During the night 267 synagogues were plundered, 7,500 shops were wrecked, 91 Jews were killed and 20,000 others were arrested and sent to concentration camps. It was afterward known as "Kristallnacht" because of the thousands of windows broken.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2010
Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com
