Bill Gates, who previously said he wasn’t a big beer fan, bought a stake in Dutch beer company Heineken for $902 million. The billionaire acquired a 3.76% stake in Heineken Holding NV, Heineken’s parent company on February 17, according to filings with the Dutch Financial Market Authority. He purchased 6.65 million shares in the beer company directly and another 4.18 million through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust according to filings. Gates’ total shares were valued at approximately €848 million or approximately $901.6 million at the close of trading on Friday. The Microsoft co-founder has previously said he doesn’t really like beer.
“I am not a big beer drinker,” Gates wrote in response to the question, adding that if he goes to baseball games, for example, he’ll “drink light beer to get with the vibe of all the other beer drinkers. “Last July, a study was published about the health risks of alcohol consumption that received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which the billionaire and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, started decades ago. The study found that “stronger interventions” are needed, specifically for younger people, “to reduce the substantial global health loss attributable to alcohol.”
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to an insider’s request for comment. But the Microsoft co-founder has invested in beer companies before. Well before the Reddit post and health survey, Gates bought his stake in Femsa, one of Mexico’s largest breweries in 2007 for $392 million. Coca-Cola’s largest bottler, Femsa sold its brewery to Heineken in 2010 and is now sold by Heineken the company said in a press release.
