09.09.2009 6:28 pm
The poster child for corporate greed
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August A. Busch IV is the poster child for pure corporate greed, just take the money and run, giving nothing back in return to the company he led into the well-justified acquisition by InBev, or even to society at large. InBev’s Carlos Brito pays him off with $10.35 million lump sum and a $120,000 a month consulting fee. And he becomes a complete no-show, vanishes from the scene. He burnishes his image as the reckless pampered playboy he personified. How can he have any self-respect left ? People by the score are losing their jobs and the economy is in turmoil yet he thinks he is owed a kings ransom.
Brito may have had no other choice but to accede to this extortion of shareholders. All involved are sworn to silence. No wonder. What good can be said about Busch’s conduct? For the sake of InBev his absence is a blessing. Considering his attitude, greed, lack of values and ethics, the best that can be said is good riddance.
When push came to shove the board of directors made sure that each of them were got princely sums for surrendering to InBev and Busch IV was no exception. Laid-off and fired Busch employees may look at this unwarranted severance pay and be angry with August the IV and his insensitivity to the financial plight of many. Anheuser Busch may have been a great corporate citizen under his grandfather, Gussie, but not August IV. He is what we call a real loser.
Laurence C. Day
Ladue
So Laurence, just exactly did you expect from a Democrat?
Actually Laurence, it was August Busch III who did most of the damage to Anheuser-Busch. His uber-narcissism and need for ultimate power would have made the fictitious Gordon Gecko from the movie Wall Street look like Mother Teresa. The IV was just a patsy who got to be King of the Brewery for a day before the reigns were yanked out of his hands by the Board of Directors and shareholders. It’s also the greedy shareholders who killed the company and got all of the workers fired…for a quick buck, they sold all of the AB employees down the river without even considering their actions. AB wasn’t a dying company…the takeover was not necessary, it was optional. AB shareholders enjoyed years of good dividends and a very stable stock price, but that wasn’t good enough for the greedy wall street “analysts” who thought AB’s share price should double every other month.
To me, the greed and self-absorbed shareholders are as bad as August Busch III. They are all part of the look out for number one and don’t step in number two crowd. To hell with a few thousand jobs and a national icon…I need a new BMW and a better looking French nanny to watch the kids.
What company is next? How about Boeing? Will the shareholders sell out to Airbus so they can buy a new set of Golf Clubs? How about Proctor and Gamble? Should we let them be bought by a Chinese conglomerate so that Johnny and Sally can go to FIJI and get the private Cabana?
Ok, let’s see, he oversees the loss of jobs, he’s insensitive to the financial plight of many, he’s greedy, lacks ethics and values, and sells his company and his employees down the river just to line his own pockets and live the life of a reckless pampered playboy? So what makes him any different than other CEO’s?
I would say he is just the same old CEO, in it for himself nothing for anyone else.