Adolphus Busch V is the 27-year-old great-great-grandson of the legendary beverage tycoon and founder of Anheuser Busch Adolphus Busch. But the youngest Busch isn’t following in the footsteps of his family tradition. Instead, he’s trading in his brewers’ overalls for a pair of gardening gloves, walking away from the beverage industry to stake his own claim in the cannabis sector—with the help of a six-figure investment from his father. On Wednesday, the Anheuser Busch heir launched his own weed venture, ABV Cannabis Co., with a line of disposable vape pens available across Colorado dispensaries.
From Bud to Buds: Anheuser Busch Heir Starts Weed Company
It’s not that Busch V didn’t want to take over the reigns of the family business. The problem was that as of 2008, Anheuser Busch was no longer the family business. That’s because in 2008, the company was sold to the Belgian-Brazilian brewing company InBev for a cool $52 billion. Anheuser Busch had originally turned down InBev’s initial offer of $46 billion. But InBev managed to convince shareholders to pressure the board, comprised almost entirely of Busch family members, to sell.
After the sale, InBev cleared house, taking every Busch family member off the company board and establishing a policy that would prevent any Busch descendant from working for the company again. In 2013, after graduating from college in Colorado, Busch V tried to get a job at the InBev-controlled Anheuser Busch. But the heir couldn’t even land an entry-level position. “Honestly, it was kind of a punch in the gut,” Busch V told TheStreet.
Estranged from the company his forefathers had founded and built, Busch V returned to Colorado and began work in the state’s legal cannabis industry. After a stint with a couple of companies, including the cannabis-infused beverage brand Keef Cola, Busch decided to work on his own startup.
Drawing on the business acumen of his family tree, and a $100,000 seed investment from his father Adolphus Busch IV, Busch V started ABV Cannabis Co, a name with a nod to both his initials and the standard measurement of a drink’s alcohol content.
ABV Cannabis Co. Launches Disposable Vape Pens
But cannabis-infused beverages aren’t something Busch V is working on. Instead, he’s starting out with volume products. Disposable vape pens and soon, pre-rolls.
ABV’s disposable vape pen is the company’s first product. The pens come equipped with 300 mg cartridges and ABV says they’re more reliable than other disposable pens.
The pen has a metal body, quartz glass oil chamber and glass mouthpiece, a ceramic atomizer and a 320 mAh battery. Importantly, ABV says the battery will outlast the oil in the chamber. The CO2-extracted cannabis oil comes with strain-specific terpene infusions to add flavor and increase effects.
Adolphus Busch V says he wants to take his family heritage and create a new legacy for himself in the cannabis space. ABV Cannabis Co. products are only available in Colorado currently. But the Anheuser Busch heir wants to expand the company into California’s retail market.
