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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told his government to investigate whether Bud Light’s parent company breached its duties to shareholders as a conservative backlash over the beer deal with social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney continues.
DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, has instructed Lamar Taylor, interim executive director of the state board, to immediately begin a review of “how AB InBev’s conduct has impacted and continues to impact the value of the SBA.” AB InBev holdings”.
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“It appears to me that AB InBev may have breached the legal duties owed to its shareholders, and that shareholder action may be appropriate and necessary,” DeSantis wrote in a Twitter message on Friday.
“All options are on the table,” he added.
Shares of AB InBev are down more than 2% this year, while the broader market is bullish.
Bud Light sales plummeted in the wake of conservative uproar and a boycott of Mulvaney’s partnership. In the past month, beer has lost its number one spot in the beer market in the United States Constellation BrandsModelo Especial, which owns 8.7% of all beer sales, while Bud Light owns 7%, according to data shared by consulting firm Bump Willams.
The company also found that Bud Light sales were down about 25% from a year ago. Amid the boycott, the company’s shares fell from $66 a share to $58. DeSantis said Florida has $53 million worth of shares in AB InBev.
“Anheuser-Busch InBev takes our responsibility to our shareholders, employees, distributors and customers very seriously,” a company spokesperson told CNBC in a statement Friday afternoon.
“We are focused on driving long-term sustainable growth for them by improving our business and providing products for consumers to enjoy for any occasion,” said the spokesperson.
DeSantis suggested that the investigation could lead to a lawsuit being filed on behalf of Florida pension fund shareholders. “At the end of the day, there should be penalties when you put work aside to focus on your social agenda at the expense of the hard-working people,” he said in an interview with Fox News Thursday night.
The governor accused the company of neglecting stakeholders and retirees by being associated with “extreme social ideologies”.
DeSantis oversees the state board as a trustee along with the state’s Republican attorney general and state financial director.
The move against Bud Light is the latest example of DeSantis jumping into controversy over a hot social issue and flexing his political powers.
The ruler has entered into a bitter dispute with DisneyInc., one of the top employers in his state, for more than a year after the company criticized a controversial Florida bill that would limit discussion of gender identity in classrooms. Disney has filed a federal lawsuit accusing DeSantis and his allies of political retaliation stemming from the clash over the semester bill.
DeSantis, seen as the top Republican challenger to former President Donald Trump, has continued his campaign trail attacks against Disney and other entities he sees as advancing his “awakened” progressive political ideology.
In his letter to Taylor, he wrote, “We must wisely manage the funds of Florida’s hard-working law enforcement officers, educators, firefighters, and first responders in a way that focuses on increasing returns, not supporting an ideological agenda by awakening signals of virtue.”
DeSantis trails Trump by double digits in most national polls of the GOP primary race. Less than two months after entering the race, the governor’s campaign plans to restart, NBC News reported on Thursday.
Mulvaney criticized Bud Light for not standing by her during the boycott. She said she was harassed and intimidated when she became the face of controversy.
“For months, I was afraid to leave my house, I was ridiculed in public, I was stalked, and I felt lonely that I wouldn’t wish to be on anyone,” Mulvaney said. He said last month.
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