Microsoft founder and well-known philanthropist Bill Gates has acquired a minority stake in Heineken Holding NV for approximately $1 billion. Bill Gates acquired a stake in the world's second-largest brewer (Heineken) for $902 million. Part of the shares he bought at Heineken was personally for him, and the rest was for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
According to a filing at the Dutch regulator AFM, Bill Gates bought about 3.8% of Heineken Holding, which is still a minority stake. As mentioned, Bill Gates purchased shares at Heineken for his gain and then for the foundation he co-founded with his ex-wife. The former Microsoft executive purchased about 6.65 million shares in Heineken Holding through his capacity, and then about 4.18 million shares were through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
From the calculations that Bloomberg made, the Microsoft founder's total shares at the Heineken beer-producing company were valued at about €848.2 million ($902 million). The data which Bloomberg used for these calculations was the closing share price value of February 17.
The same day Bill Gates purchased the shares from the producers of Heineken beer, Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB launched a €3.7 billion stock and equity-linked sale. This sale was for part of its holding at Heineken. The Mexican Coca-Cola bottler and convenience store operator is popularly known as Femsa, and they announced their decision shortly after the sale. They decided to sell their holdings at Heineken after a strategic review within the company. It is speculated that it is part of their sold holding that Bill Gates purchased as shares for himself and his foundation.
More information from Femsa explained how they sold their shares at Heineken. According to their report, they accelerated a bookbuild offering of €1.9 billion in shares in Heineken NV. The shares were sold for €91 apiece. They also sold €1.3 billion in shares in Heineken Holding at approximately €75 each.
Other Investments By Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The investment Bill Gates made for his personal gain, and his foundation wasn't the only one they have made in the past. In fact, the non-profit foundation has set a standard for other foundations to follow. The well-known foundation has invested in Dutch online grocer Picnic BV and has a 1.34% stake in Dutch fertilizer producer OCI NV.
Compared to its starting point in the 2000s, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has done pretty well in the non-profit organization world. They have spent more than $80 billion on issues relating to their foundation and employed close to 2000 workers for the foundation.
Although Bill Gates and his wife are divorced, they are still working closely to ensure the sustainability of their foundation. They have made several investments, and many have been transformed through their foundation. They have not released any statement regarding the recent investment that the foundation just made. Heineken has not made any press releases either.