Anson Frericks

And I think the bigger problem was, is that in 2018, 19, for a bunch of different reasons, the company to try and grow, they adopted a lot of the ESG, DEI philosophies that we've heard a lot about, stakeholder capitalism, which is this European concept that businesses are supposed to serve all types of purposes. That pops up.

And then two or three years later, all of a sudden, the company has really changed. It changed from sort of a great American company based in the Midwest, based off meritocracy values. And then all of a sudden, in the kind of post-COVID, post-George Floyd era, Anheuser-Busch, they start –

And then two or three years later, all of a sudden, the company has really changed. It changed from sort of a great American company based in the Midwest, based off meritocracy values. And then all of a sudden, in the kind of post-COVID, post-George Floyd era, Anheuser-Busch, they start –

And then two or three years later, all of a sudden, the company has really changed. It changed from sort of a great American company based in the Midwest, based off meritocracy values. And then all of a sudden, in the kind of post-COVID, post-George Floyd era, Anheuser-Busch, they start –

moving away from being a meritocracy, moving more towards diversity, equity, inclusion, moving more towards getting more involved in political issues. And, you know, unfortunately with what happened with Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light, that was the product of maybe 10 years of mistakes the company had made.

moving away from being a meritocracy, moving more towards diversity, equity, inclusion, moving more towards getting more involved in political issues. And, you know, unfortunately with what happened with Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light, that was the product of maybe 10 years of mistakes the company had made.

moving away from being a meritocracy, moving more towards diversity, equity, inclusion, moving more towards getting more involved in political issues. And, you know, unfortunately with what happened with Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light, that was the product of maybe 10 years of mistakes the company had made.

And now all of a sudden you have a company that's lost 50% of its sales with the biggest beer in America, Bud Light, and they still haven't turned it around. So that's the short story. Now we can get into the longer story about maybe more broadly what happened.

And now all of a sudden you have a company that's lost 50% of its sales with the biggest beer in America, Bud Light, and they still haven't turned it around. So that's the short story. Now we can get into the longer story about maybe more broadly what happened.

And now all of a sudden you have a company that's lost 50% of its sales with the biggest beer in America, Bud Light, and they still haven't turned it around. So that's the short story. Now we can get into the longer story about maybe more broadly what happened.

No, totally insane. And I think, like, let's back up, because, I mean, really, I think this story starts almost 40 years beforehand, where you really are starting to talk about what is the purpose of a corporation? Like, what are businesses and the business of doing? And in the United States, since the 1970s, you had sort of this view of Milton Friedman.

No, totally insane. And I think, like, let's back up, because, I mean, really, I think this story starts almost 40 years beforehand, where you really are starting to talk about what is the purpose of a corporation? Like, what are businesses and the business of doing? And in the United States, since the 1970s, you had sort of this view of Milton Friedman.

No, totally insane. And I think, like, let's back up, because, I mean, really, I think this story starts almost 40 years beforehand, where you really are starting to talk about what is the purpose of a corporation? Like, what are businesses and the business of doing? And in the United States, since the 1970s, you had sort of this view of Milton Friedman.

Milton Friedman, famous economist, said the purpose of a corporation was to serve its shareholders, the people who actually own the business. How do you do that? Well, you focus on your customers, focus on creating great products and services. When you do that, you create, generate more revenue. You can hire more people and business continue to grow and do all the great things businesses do.

Milton Friedman, famous economist, said the purpose of a corporation was to serve its shareholders, the people who actually own the business. How do you do that? Well, you focus on your customers, focus on creating great products and services. When you do that, you create, generate more revenue. You can hire more people and business continue to grow and do all the great things businesses do.

Milton Friedman, famous economist, said the purpose of a corporation was to serve its shareholders, the people who actually own the business. How do you do that? Well, you focus on your customers, focus on creating great products and services. When you do that, you create, generate more revenue. You can hire more people and business continue to grow and do all the great things businesses do.

There was this other philosophy that was more this European view of the world that says the purpose of a corporation is to serve all stakeholders. That was served by Klaus Schwab. This is the World Economic Forum, Davos type of elite that over in Europe. What's a stakeholder? So that's the problem. There are thousands of stakeholders.

There was this other philosophy that was more this European view of the world that says the purpose of a corporation is to serve all stakeholders. That was served by Klaus Schwab. This is the World Economic Forum, Davos type of elite that over in Europe. What's a stakeholder? So that's the problem. There are thousands of stakeholders.

There was this other philosophy that was more this European view of the world that says the purpose of a corporation is to serve all stakeholders. That was served by Klaus Schwab. This is the World Economic Forum, Davos type of elite that over in Europe. What's a stakeholder? So that's the problem. There are thousands of stakeholders.

You know, it's almost the idea of like when you have this shareholder capitalism model that Milton Friedman says, you must have like one God. The God is the shareholder. That's who you have to take a look at. But the stakeholder capitalism model, you have thousands of gods. Those can be activists, government employees. They can be suppliers. They can be social activists. I mean, you name it.