Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE: BUD)

AB InBev is the world's largest brewer, producing Budweiser, Stella Artois, Corona, Beck's, and hundreds of local brands across 150 countries. They brew roughly one in four beers consumed globally. The company was built through a series of mega-mergers orchestrated by 3G Capital.

Sell beer at massive scale, using brand power and distribution dominance to maintain pricing. The 3G Capital playbook of aggressive cost-cutting and zero-based budgeting has driven margins, though critics say it's come at the expense of brand investment.

The modern AB InBev was created through InBev's $52 billion hostile takeover of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, followed by the $100 billion acquisition of SABMiller in 2016. The SABMiller deal left the company with over $100 billion in debt. The Bud Light controversy in 2023 wiped billions off US sales.