(Fortune) - Brazilian billionaire investor Marcel Herrmann Telles is getting his succession planning underway: He's donated his stake in the world’s largest beer maker, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, to his son.
Telles and his partners Jorge Paulo Lemann and Carlos Sicupira, who together founded the private equity firm 3G Capital, own around a third of AB InBev. Telles's move means Max Van Hoegaerden Herrmann Telles will now be a key player in the future of the embattled drinks company.
The trio own their AB InBev stake through the entity BRC, holding a 50% stake in Stichting AK Netherlands, which in turn owns 33.47% of AB InBev, according to the company’s website.
Telles’ stake alone in the Belgian brewer—known for brands like Bud Light and Stella Artois—is worth a whopping $6.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and now lies in the hands of his youngest son, Max.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the shares were transferred on Dec. 15, 2023. And not only did Max inherit billions over the festive break, but also his father’s voting powers at the company.
“Max Van Hoegaerden Herrmann Telles thereby replaced his father as one of the individuals holding joint ultimate control over BRC, together with Carlos Alberto da Veiga Sicupira and Jorge Paulo Lemann,” the filing notes.
The company may need a level head at the table.
Last year AB InBev found itself in a heated culture war when a sponsorship with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney went awry.
An Instagram post by the TikTok star promoting Bud Light attracted backlash and calls for a boycott from conservatives, following which AB InBev disavowed the campaign.
That sparked criticism from the LGBTQ+ community for the brewer’s lack of support for Mulvaney after the fallout. The controversy resulted in a decline in the sale of its lager and lost Bud Light the status of America’s top-selling beer.
The first of 11 successors
Despite being the first to initiate succession planning, at 73 years old Telles is the youngest of the investment trio. Meanwhile, Lemann is 84 and Sicupira is 75.
The trio also have stakes in Kraft Heinz and Restaurant Brands International, which own brands including Tim Hortons, Burger King, and Popeyes.
In total, the three reportedly have 11 heirs to their empire, but no dates for when they plan to hand over the reins have been established.
Meanwhile, Telles has already transferred some of his other holdings to his children. In 2017, he donated shares held in Brazilian real estate firm Sao Carlos Empreendimentos e Participacoes SA to Max and his older brother Christian. Christian and Max are Telles's only children; their ages and their family situations are unknown.
Who are Max and Marcel Telles?
With a net worth of around $11.2 billion, Telles is one of Brazil’s wealthiest individuals. He cofounded 3G Capital in 2004, but his experience in the beer-making industry dates back almost 50 years.
He ran the Brazilian beer company Brahma in the late 1980s, and helped create the Brazillian brewer Ambev in 1999. There he became CEO and played a key role in the merger of the Belgian InterBrew with Anheuser-Busch in 2008, forming the AB InBev we know today.
Meanwhile, Max has little experience in the industry by comparison. The under-the-radar heir has kept a relatively low profile, but according to his LinkedIn profile, he interned for the likes of Credit Suisse and Falcone in Brazil before moving to the States.
Most recently, he has been working as a financial analyst at BTG Pactual Asset Management in New York. But he was previously primed for taking over his father’s stake at AB InBev, taking on the role of global management trainee for a year at the company in 2018.
By Orianna Rosa Royle
