August Busch III
Great-grandson of Adolphus Busch; longtime Anheuser-Busch chairman.
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via Wikipedia: August Busch III · see source
August Anheuser Busch III (born June 16, 1937) is a great-grandson of Anheuser-Busch founder Adolphus Busch and was the company's chairman until November 30, 2006. Informally known as "Auggie" and as "The Third" or "Three Sticks" by subordinates and employees, he is the father of August Busch IV. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he graduated from Ladue Horton Watkins High School in 1956, attended the University of Arizona but dropped out after failing, then began working in an entry-level position at Anheuser-Busch after his father gave him an ultimatum. He later graduated from the Course in Brewing Technology at the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago during the 1960/61 program.
Career
August Busch III served as President of the Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. (ABC) from 1974 until June 2002, and chief executive officer of ABC from 1975 until June 2002. He was chairman of the Board of Directors of ABC from 1977 to 2006. He was succeeded as the day-to-day operational head by Patrick Stokes, marking the first time a non-Busch family member ran day-to-day operations. Busch also conferred the chairmanship to Stokes effective December 1, 2006, and retired from his executive functions on November 30, 2006.
He has been a director of AT&T Inc. since October 1983, served as a Director of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company from 1980 to 1983, and was a Director of Emerson Electric Co. from December 31, 1984 to February 1, 2016. He chaired the Anheuser-Busch Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee and was a member of the Corporate Development Committee and the Executive Committee. Notably, Busch voted to approve $115 million of pay for SBC/AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre over a five-year period.
Personal life
August Busch III has been married twice. He married first wife Susan in 1963; she is the mother of his two older children, August Anheuser Busch IV and Susan Busch-Transou. The marriage ended in divorce in 1969. His second wife, Virginia, a practicing attorney, is the mother of his two younger children, Steven Busch and Virginia "Ginny" Busch.
Politically, he has been a lifelong supporter of the Republican Party and a friend, ally, and financial supporter of Senator John McCain and President George W. Bush, unlike his father Gussie. His eldest son August IV is a strong supporter of Democratic Party politics, like his grandfather Gussie. All four children are involved in Anheuser-Busch business functions: August IV was president and CEO of the company; Susie Busch-Transou and her husband Tripp own Tri-Eagle Sales, a distributorship near Tallahassee, Florida; Steven Busch was his father's executive assistant and now owns Krey Distributing Company in St. Peters, Missouri; and Ginny Busch works for Busch Entertainment Company, closely involved with SeaWorld and Busch Gardens theme parks.
Both August A. Busch III and August A. Busch Jr. were inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2005.
More in American Businesspeople in the Drink Industry
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: August Busch III (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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