"When you say Bud, you've said a lot of things nobody else can say... When you say Budweiser, you've said it all!" If you are old enough to remember this jingle from 1970, you're old enough to sip a cold one and hum the epic "When You Say Bud" song while reading this. Not surprisingly, the self-proclaimed "King of Beers" brewer has actually been around for generations, going all the way back to the 1850's. Two men, Eberhard Anheuser and Adolphus Busch, teamed up to transform Anheuser-Busch from a simple neighborhood brewery into the well-known beer maker America knows and loves today.
Anheuser-Busch has indeed long been a family company. Writer Sanford Wexler says that the hiring of CEO Patrick Stokes in 2002 was the first time in the company's history that someone other than a family member was put in charge. But with one of every two beers sold in America bearing an Anheuser-Busch label, the conglomerate clearly remains on top, from impressive sales to its legendary Super Bowl ads that have ingrained themselves into American culture.
Such fame has not been without its share of tragedies, however, as generations of the Anheuser-Busch families have endured their own personal troubles. Read on for the tragic history of the Anheuser-Busch dynasty.
