August Busch IV is one of the most popular and richest Businessperson who was born on June 15, 1964 in St. Louis, St. Louis, United States. He is a great-great-grandson of Anheuser-Busch founder Adolphus Busch, and a great-great-great-grandson of Eberhard Anheuser who originally purchased the brewery in 1860. He is the son of Susan (Hornibrook) and August Busch III, the former chairman, president and CEO of the company.
In 1994, Busch was named vice president of brand management. In 1996, he became vice president of marketing. Busch was promoted in 2000 to group vice president of marketing and wholesale operations. Under his leadership, the company emphasized more creative and often humorous advertising. In an interview with Fortune magazine, he recounted a conversation with his father August Busch III, then the company’s president and CEO, that Budweiser sales would grow only if the iconic brand’s identity was reinvented. “There was a culture weaved into the Budweiser brand… No one wanted to change it,” Busch IV told the magazine. The new advertising campaigns launched by Busch IV cemented his reputation for marketing instincts. The Budweiser and Bud Light commercials won the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter every year from 1999 to 2008.
The deal was worth $100 million to Busch. He also received a seat on InBev’s board for a three-year term, $10.35 million in advance, and the promise of $120,000 a month in consultancy fees, as well as a personal security team. The same month the InBev takeover was completed, Busch resigned as a director of FedEx Corp, a position he had held since 2003.
In 2004, as president of the company, Busch IV announced the brewer had purchased the 20-year naming rights to a new Busch Stadium, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals. Team owner William Dewitt Jr. said: “From the day we began planning for the new ballpark, we wanted to keep the name ‘Busch Stadium.’ August Busch IV and Anheuser-Busch share our vision for continuing that tradition for our great fans and the entire St. Louis community.” Dewitt, as part of an ownership group, had purchased the team from the brewery in 1996.
In 1989, he moved into marketing, working on the Bud Dry brand launch. Although the launch was considered a success, the product ultimately proved to be unsuccessful.
