Ron DeSantis Takes Aim at Bud Light. What Florida’s Pension Holds in BUD Stock.

DeSantis sent a letter dated Thursday, July 20, to Lamar Taylor, the interim director of the Florida State Board of Administration (SBA), instructing him to “initiate a review to examine how AB InBev’s conduct has impacted and continues to impact the value of SBA’s AB InBev holdings.”

He added: “It appears to me that AB InBev may have breached legal duties owed to shareholders, and that shareholder action may be both appropriate and necessary.”

In the letter, DeSantis instructed Taylor, who oversees a body that provides investment services to both Florida state and local government entities, including the sizable Florida Retirement System Pension Plan, to share his letter with AB InBev directors.

Then, early Friday, DeSantis said on Twitter that environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing had been “kneecapped” in the state and that “all options are on the table and woke corporations that put ideology ahead of returns should be on notice.”

“Anheuser-Busch InBev takes our responsibility to our shareholders, employees, distributors and customers seriously,” a spokesperson for the company said in reference to DeSantis’s comments. “We are focused on driving long-term, sustainable growth for them by optimizing our business and providing consumers products to enjoy for any occasion.”

Earlier this year, AB InBev engaged with Mulvaney to promote its Bud Light brand on the personality’s social media channel. The action led to boycotts and a decline in sales of Bud Light, which is no longer the nation’s best-selling beer.

This isn’t DeSantis’s first attack on Bud Light or ESG more broadly. The Republican presidential candidate has made headlines for targeting companies that he says prioritize cultural issues over their business, as exemplified by the legal and political spat between him and

Walt Disney

(DIS).

DeSantis says the investigation into SBA’s investment into AB InBev will protect the retirees of Florida. The SBA’s latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows no record of the pension plan holding AB InBev stock at the end of the first quarter or during the fourth quarter of 2022. However, as of July 14, an SBA Fund held approximately 819,880 shares worth about $48 million of AB InBev shares on behalf of the pension plan, a spokesperson said.

If the pension plan itself bought shares of AB InBev directly after the controversy began, that would be reflected in second-quarter 13F filings, which are generally due in August.

Florida’s pension plan owns shares of Disney. According to SEC filings, Florida’s flagship pension plan held almost 2 million shares of Disney at the end of the first quarter, about flat from the end of 2022. The SBA also owns a little more than 165,000 shares of spirits maker

Constellation Brands

(STZ), according to its latest filing.

AB InBev’s American depositary receipts closed down 0.3% Friday and shares are still down roughly 14% from their highs seen before boycotts. They have bounced back from their spring lows, climbing 1.1% in the past month and 1.4% in the past five days.

Write to Teresa Rivas at [email protected] and Ed Lin at [email protected]