Busch page 14

Busch page 14 by ric gustafson


In early 1975, August came up with a plan to force his father to leave the brewery for good. At the time, the Miller brewery in Milwaukee was doubling it's production capacity and it's market share. It's signature Miller High Life brand was growing leaps and bounds and in January of that year introduced Miller Lite to the public. Because of all that advertising, it took fourth place in the brewery wars. August saw Miller as a threat to their business. Because of this, August talked to the Board of Directors about ousting his father. The Board agreed and Gussie was forced to become Chairman while August became President of the brewery.
Gussie's son Adolphus was furious and demanded a meeting with August. He defended his actions and said that what he had done was for the best for the brewery. Gussie owned fifteen percent of the brewery's stock and another fifteen percent through trusts. On May 8 1975, it was announced that Gussie Busch was stepping down as Chief Executive.
By the end of 1975, August Busch was happy for two main reasons. The first was that now he was the President of the brewery. The other main reason was that their rival Schlitz had a massive recall of ten million of their bottles and cans resulting in a sales drop of 40 percent. Schlitz's stock plummeted to five dollars a share and the brewery basically vanished until it was bought by Stroh Brewing Company in 1982.


research help: ' Bitter Brew' by William Knoedelseder


Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric