The heir to the Anheuser-Busch brewing company has joined the cannabis industry after his aspirations of getting into the business his family established was pulled out from under him.
Adolphus Busch V, whose great-great-grandfather founded the company responsible for the creation of the Budweiser beer brand, recently launched a marijuana firm called the ABV Cannabis Company. The Colorado-based business will market a new line of disposable vaporizers throughout its home state and later expand to other legal jurisdictions.
Prior to graduating from Colorado State University, the 27-year-old hoped he could go to work for Anheuser-Busch InBev, which purchased his family’s company for $52 billion back in 2008. But that plan did not work out. It seems the company considers it a conflict of interest for any member of the Busch family to be employed with its latest inception of the brewery. Management wouldn’t even consider him for an “entry level position,” Busch told The Street. “Honestly it was kind of a punch in the gut,” he said.
So, Busch was forced to choose a different career path.
It was during his college years that he witnessed, first hand, the emerging cannabis scene unfolding in Colorado. After being turned down by AB InBev, he decided to cut his teeth on the pot market by taking a few sales jobs with established players like BioTrack and Keef Cola. His experience in the industry eventually got him thinking about using his “pioneering family heritage” to “create a new legacy” in the cannabis space. The ABV Cannabis Company was born.
In addition to disposable vape pens, Busch, who is the sole owner in the company, said he hopes to eventually distribute various strains of marijuana and other pot products.
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Interestingly, cannabis appears to be a subject of great interest to the Busch family. Last year Busch’s father, Adolphus Busch IV, was responsible for helping track down major supporters for an initiative brought forth by cannabis advocacy group New Approach Missouri. The organization is pushing to legalize medical marijuana throughout the Show-Me State. It is one of three medical marijuana proposals that earned a spot on the ballot in the upcoming November election.
Still, Busch V says his family wasn’t very keen on him getting into the marijuana business at first. But they have since changed their tune.
Although it may seem logical for Busch to eventually market a cannabis-infused beer as part of his reefer repertoire, he says that is not in the works. Nearly all of the major brewers, with the exception of Anheuser-Busch, have announced partnerships to produce beverages of this kind. But for Busch, his goal is to simply capitalize on a new market that he believes has the potential to rival the alcohol industry. Who knows, perhaps one day the Busch name could be more closely linked with bud than Budweiser.
