Tag Archives: beer

Idiots with MBA degrees

Posted on by under Business & Economy

I could devote a whole blog to idiots in suits, also known as MBAs, but it would take away from the generally optimistic world view I have and try to share on this blog.

However, I just couldn’t resist this one, from Time magazine: Belgium’s looming beer crisis.

Just a teaser… Clearly 14th. century monks were more capable of running a business than today’s idiots in suits:

“InBev can trace its brewing roots back to 1366 … It has expanded rapidly following a series of rapacious mergers and acquisitions in recent years, most notably its takeover of Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch in 2008 — after which InBev became AB InBev. But that move also saddled the company with huge debts, which it is still struggling to pay off. …”

And if you can stomach reading through to the end, here’s what the people who gave you the financial crisis, Government Motors and $400 Amazon stock plan for Belgian beer:

“AB InBev is thinking on a bigger scale and wants to go for volume rather than quality,” he says. In other words, AB InBev is focusing on a grand strategy, which means that what happens in Belgium now is small beer.”

Belgium is of course my home country, so this one hits close to home. There’s also a Latin American connection in that AB Inbev is largely controlled by Brazilian investment bankers, stemming from one of the mergers that made the company what it is today.

Excuse the French, but if some people can screw up a wet dream, I guess even screwing up Belgian beer is possible for idiots in suits.

Go read the full article at Time.