Anheuser-Busch InBev's defining moves.
The defining strategic moves at Anheuser-Busch InBev — each one explained and grounded in the record.
The Adjacency Expansion · Adjacency Expansion
A Single Instagram Post Cost AB InBev a Fortune. The Debt Is Why It Hurt So Much.
Bud Light's 2023 collapse looks like a culture-war accident. It was really a stress test: a company carrying $78 billion in roll-up debt had no slack to lose a single SKU, and U.S. EBITDA fell 28% in the first half of 2023.
8 min
The Crisis Response · Crisis Response
Bud Light Tried to Stand for Nothing. It Lost Everyone.
A single commemorative can to Dylan Mulvaney triggered the boycott. But AB InBev's $1.4 billion North American wound in 2023 wasn't caused by the can — it was caused by a CEO statement that refused to defend the partnership, the boycott, or anyone at all.
8 min
The Roll-Up · Adjacency & Expansion
AB InBev Borrowed More Money Than Anyone Ever Had. The Hangover Story Misreads the Bill.
To buy SABMiller, AB InBev took on a record $75 billion loan and sold $46 billion of bonds in the largest corporate offering of its day. The 'growth hangover' narrative says the debt broke the company. The debt is the one part that's working.
8 min
The Pricing Power Play · Pricing
AB InBev Is Selling Less Beer Every Year. So Why Is It Making More Money?
The world's biggest brewer's beer volumes have fallen three years running - down 2.3%, 1.9%, then 2.6%. Yet FY2024 revenue per hectoliter rose 4.3% and FY2025 EBITDA margin expanded to 35.8%. Premiumization is real - but it has a ceiling, and China just found it.
8 min