Bill Gates watches his daughter Jennifer Gates compete in the Airbus Grand Prix class. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for Masters Grand Slam Indoor
Bill Gates buys a stake in Heineken worth R16.4 billion
The 67-year-old business tycoon Bill Gates has spent an estimated R16.4 billion despite ‘not a big beer drinker,’ on buying a stake in Heineken.
Bill Gates watches his daughter Jennifer Gates compete in the Airbus Grand Prix class. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for Masters Grand Slam Indoor
Microsoft co-founder and tycoon, Bill Gates, is now a shareholder in the Dutch multinational company, Heineken Holding NV, Heineken’s parent company.
According to reports, the business mogul bought a ‘minority’ stake of 3.76% worth $902 million or R16.4 billion at the close of the transaction day on Friday, 17 February 2023.
The business mogul is reported to have bought at least 6.65 million shares of the “beer company” directly, and another 4.18 million shares through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, according to a filing by Netherlands’ Financial Markets Authority.
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Bill Gates is not a ‘big alcohol’ consumer
Certainly, money is not a problem for someone who invests billions into a product that he hardly consumes. This is also true for Bill Gates as previous reports suggest that the billionaire is not ‘big’ on consuming alcohol.
Business Insider reports that Gates is “not a big beer drinker,” according to a 2018 ‘Ask Me Anything’ thread on Reddit. The tycoon added that if he goes to a baseball game, for instance, he’ll “drink light beer to get with the vibe of all the other beer drinkers.”
In 2007, the Microsoft co-founder bought a stake in one of Mexico’s largest brewery companies, Femsa, worth R7.1 billion.
“Femsa, which is the largest bottler of Coca Cola, sold its brewery to Heineken in 2010, and is now divesting from Heineken,” Business Insider reports.
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Bill Gates funds an alcohol-related health study
Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates have always supported alcohol-related initiatives. In July last year, a study focusing on the health risks of alcohol consumption was published, which received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The study is reported to have been initiated by Bill Gates and his ex-wife decades ago.
“Stronger interventions are needed, specifically for younger people, to reduce the substantial global health loss attributable to alcohol,” the study found.
