August A. Busch III

The eldest son of August “Gussie” Busch Jr. and Elizabeth Overton Busch, August III was born on June 16, 1937. 

 

Like his father, as a youth he spent time at the family’s Grant’s Farm, where he enjoyed the outdoors and worked at the brewery during the summers.

After attending the University of Arizona, August received his brewmaster certificate from the Siebel Institute of Technology, a brewing school in Chicago. 

 

His career at Anheuser-Busch began in 1957. Following Busch family tradition, August learned the business from the bottom up, starting with cleaning and polishing copper brew kettles and mopping floors. He worked his way up through the company before he succeeded his father as the President of Anheuser-Busch in 1974 and CEO in 1975. He served in this role until 2002, and remained Chairman of the Board until 2006. August was the fourth generation and fifth member of the Busch family to have served as President.

 

August Busch III remains a legend in the business world and is still studied in business schools throughout the country. His uncompromising vision consistently delivered earnings growth to shareholders. 

 

Busch single-handedly turned Anheuser-Busch into a brewing behemoth which held almost half the U.S. market. In his almost three decades as CEO, Anheuser-Busch’s domestic market share doubled, and its presence worldwide went from negligible to selling beer in over 80 countries. 

 

Under the leadership of August Busch III, Anheuser-Busch also diversified its holdings into several non-beverage enterprises, including theme parks such as Sea World, and food, branded as Eagle Snacks. 

 

One of August Busch III’s first tests as CEO involved the competition with fierce rival Miller Brewing Company. When a 90-day strike halted Anheuser-Busch production just before summer, deteriorating the company’s market share, Miller executive John Murphy bragged that his company would shortly be number one. Busch rallied his troops with the rallying cry, “a sense of urgency.” The brewery printed the acronym ASU on hats and shirts, even engraving it on company stationery. Departing from his father’s approach, in taking on Miller, Busch vowed to dominate the advertising market and created a concept called “total marketing” whereby the brewery sponsored sporting events, music concerts, and invested in in-store displays. 

 

Busch didn’t just beat Miller on the airwaves, but on the shelves as well. In 1982, responding to the growing market for light beer, Anheuser-Busch rolled out the Bud Light brand, responding to its rival Miller Lite amid a nationwide surge in health consciousness. Within a decade, Bud Light became the nation’s top selling beer.

In 1995, Forbes put August Busch III on the cover and profiled his rivalry with Miller this way:

 

Busch brutally repulsed an attack on his market dominance by Philip Morris’ formidable marketing machine. After taking over Milwaukee’s Miller Brewing Co in 1970, the Philip Morris marketers pushed Miller from 4.2% of the US market to 15.4% in 1977. Miller outflanked AB in an appeal to young adults and to people who were watching calories. It seemed only a matter of time before Miller would catch up with Anheuser-Busch. But August Busch III counterattacked and contained Miller’s advances.

Few, if any, rivals can claim to have met and beaten back Phillip Morris. August Busch III did just that. In Busch, Philip Morris met its match.

“I have to win” admits the rarely interviewed Busch. This company is a winner, and I’m going to continue that track record. 

 

Quoted in the Chicago Tribune at the time, Alan Easton, Miller’s vice president of corporate affairs, admitted the company was outdone:

 

“If Miller brought modern marketing to the brewing industry, Anheuser-Busch was the best student of it and did more with it than anyone else.'' 

 

As CEO, August Busch III was a fearless competitor who brought modern, disciplined business strategy to the beer industry. The foundation of his business strategy was a hyperfocus and dedication to quality. No aspect of the brewery’s product evaded his scrutiny.

 

As he himself said: 

 

“My father taught me the cardinal rule when I was just a child: Quality is first. I really am a brewmaster. I watch the product on a daily basis in this corporation.”

 

Busch believes this focus on quality is why Anheuser-Busch stayed ahead. Throughout his executive career he used his background as an expert brewmaster to taste every beer each breweries produced. He ensured that the company invested more capital to produce a bottle of beer than any competitor and emphasized that his products supplemented the traditional barley malt with rice instead of the cheaper corn most large brewers use.

 

His core belief in quality as a business strategy was one of his ten guiding principles that he inspired all employees of Anheuser-Busch, from the executive team to the brewing staff, to follow.

 

​Busch didn’t just have the Midas touch when it came to product, but advertising as well. Once in a meeting to choose the new theme line for Budweiser, he selected ''This Bud's for you'' from a stack of about 20 possibilities. The other Anheuser-Busch executives attending the session doubted the slogan's longevity, but Busch got his way. The line has become one of the most successful beer tags ever.

 

In addition to crushing the competition, under his leadership, Anheuser-Busch was recognized for its environmental stewardship as well as for being a generous corporate citizen. He aggressively campaigned against the abuse of alcohol, including underage drinking and drunk driving.

August Busch III has been married twice. His first wife, Susan, is the mother of his two older children, August Busch IV and Susan Busch-Transou. His second wife, Virginia, is the mother of his two younger children, Steven Busch and Virginia “Ginny” Busch.

All four of his children were involved in the business functions of Anheuser-Busch at one time. August IV was President and CEO of Anheuser-Busch; Susan Busch-Transou own Tri-Eagle Sales, a distributorship near Tallahassee, Florida; Steven was his father’s executive assistant and now owns Krey Distribution Company in St. Peter’s Missouri, and Ginny worked closely with SeaWorld and the Busch Gardens family theme park businesses.

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