Budweiser is owned by AB InBev (Belgium, NYSE: BUD), which acquired the brand on 18 November 2008 from Anheuser-Busch, as part of a $52 billion deal that also included Bud Light and Michelob Ultra.[1][2] Before AB InBev, Budweiser was owned by Anheuser-Busch from 1876 to 2008.[2]
Budweiser has been brewed in St. Louis since 1876, made with rice alongside barley and matured over beechwood chips, a process the advertising has long emphasised. AB InBev owns the name in most of the world, but in the European Union it has been contested for over a century with the Czech brewer Budějovický Budvar.
What AB InBev's annual report says about Budweiser
Sentences about Budweiser from AB InBev's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Budweiser was ranked as the second most valuable beer brand worldwide, according to the Kantar BrandZ 2025 report, and furthered its legacy and connection with music culture, sponsoring the Freedom Stage at Tomorrowland Belgium and the Maroon 5 tour in Brazil.
How often AB InBev names Budweiser in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named more often than it was three years earlier.
The USPTO record for the Budweiser mark lists ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLC as the owner of record (serial number 71009773). A trademark is often held by a group company rather than the listed parent, so the registrant's name can differ from the owner named above.[4]
AB InBev is a publicly listed company headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, founded in 2008. Brandtree records 21 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: BUD.
AB InBev is the largest brewer in the world, formed in 2008 when the Belgian-Brazilian InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch and enlarged again in 2016 by taking over SABMiller. Its beers are sold in about 150 countries.
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,549 brands that began in the United States.
478 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Budweiser among them.
Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch for $70 a share in cash after an initially hostile approach, creating Anheuser-Busch InBev and moving control of Budweiser out of the United States.
The Office of Fair Trading cleared InBev's acquisition of Anheuser-Busch for the United Kingdom in November 2008. The combination created the largest brewer in the world and began the consolidation that later produced the AB InBev and SABMiller merger.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Budweiser?
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The parent company of Budweiser is AB InBev, a publicly listed company headquartered in Belgium.
Is Budweiser American or Belgian?
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Budweiser originated in the United States in 1876, but it is owned today by AB InBev, which is headquartered in Belgium. So Budweiser is an American-origin brand under Belgian ownership.
When did AB InBev buy Budweiser?
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AB InBev completed its acquisition of Budweiser on 18 November 2008, after announcing the deal on 14 July 2008. The deal, which also included Bud Light and Michelob Ultra, was valued at $52 billion.
Who owned Budweiser before AB InBev?
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Before AB InBev, Budweiser was owned by Anheuser-Busch from 1876 until 2008.
Is Budweiser still owned by AB InBev?
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Yes. As of 9 October 2026, Budweiser is still owned by AB InBev. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (4) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
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