Bud Light’s parent company is having a miserable year. But there’s at least one prominent investor who believes in Anheuser-Busch: Bill Gates.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Trust last quarter bought 1.7 million shares of Anheuser-Busch stock, valued at about $95 million, according to a regulatory filing, indicating Gates has confidence in the brewing company, which has been dealing with a sharp drop in sales of one of its biggest beers.
Gates bought the stock at a time when A-B reported earnings that fully embraced the fallout from Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. His decision to send him a personalized can provoked a transphobic backlash and alienated some of the company’s core customers. The company’s subsequent response infuriated members of the LGBTQ community.
Gates has lost money on his investment so far: shares of A-B are down nearly 2% since his purchase. So far this year, shares are down 7%.
Last month, A-B said its U.S. revenue fell 10% in the second quarter, weighed down by falling Bud Light sales.
The company’s sales to U.S. retailers declined 14%, underperforming the overall beer sector, mainly due to a decline in the volume of Bud Light it sold. Revenues fell $395 million in North America during the period, compared to the same period last year. This figure included sales in Canada, where revenues increased, suggesting that the decline was limited to the United States.
A few weeks later, Modelo surpassed Bud Light in grocery and brewery sales, according to NIQ data, the first time Modelo has beaten Bud Light so far this year. However, the difference is slim, with Modelo having an 8.34% share of dollars spent on beer versus Bud Light’s 8.28% through Aug. 12.
In July, A-B also announced layoffs in its corporate ranks, which would affect “less than 2%” (about 380 positions) of its U.S. workforce.
Gates, who has previously admitted that he is “not a big beer drinker,” has also invested in other beer brands. Earlier this year, the foundation also bought nearly $1 billion worth of shares in Heineken Holding, the parent company of the Dutch beer.