President Obama announced Tuesday over $8 billion in federal support for two new nuclear power plants in Georgia, setting the stage for what could be the first completed reactor in this country in over three decades.
The money, coming in the form of loan guarantees, is going to build two new reactors at Southern Company’s Vogtle plant facility, located some 170 miles east of Atlanta.
In announcing the grant at an electrical worker’s union hall in Maryland, Obama used to occasion to tout the benefits of nuclear power.
"Nuclear energy remains our largest source of fuel that produces no carbon emissions," said the president. "To meet our growing energy needs and prevent the worst the worst consequences of climate change, we’ll need to increase our supply of nuclear power. It’s that simple."
But Obama’s speech made clear the move is also deeply political.
The money is part of $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear power approved under the 2005 energy bill. This grant is the first slice of money to be awarded.
President Obama has increased the amount of money available for nuclear loan guarantees to over $54 billion in his 2011 budget.
The increased funding is part of an effort to win Republican support for the president’s overall energy plan, which includes building more nuclear plants as well as making fossil fuels more expensive in an effort to cut greenhouse gases and make renewable energy more competitive.
"Those who have long advocated for nuclear power, including many Republicans, have to recognize that we will not achieve a big boost in nuclear capacity unless we also create a system of incentives to make clean energy profitable," Obama said. "As long as producing carbon pollution carries no cost, traditional plants that use fossil fuels will be more cost-effective than plants that use nuclear fuel."
Passing legislation to make fossil fuels more expensive and clean energy more profitable is a centerpiece of the Obama administration’s domestic agenda.
A bill designed to do just that narrowly passed the House last summer, but faces stiff opposition in the Senate from lawmakers that are concerned about its cost to the economy, or don’t believe in global warming. The Senate is expected to take up the matter sometime this year.
The Georgia plant
Southern Company is one of a handful of power producers that has been vying for this federal funding over the last few years.
Preliminary construction work on new reactors has already begun at a few sites around the country, including the Georgia plant. But the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission hasn’t issued a final permit at any of the facilities.
Winning the government loan backing is a major breakthrough for Southern, and underscores just how expensive and risky building a new nuclear facility is.
Nuclear plants have been subject to massive cost overruns in the past, and without government support even those in the industry recognize a new plant would not be built.
The Georgia expansion is estimated to cost $14 billion, and is scheduled to be completed in 2017.
When originally built late 1980s, the plant was expected to have four reactors and cost $975 million, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The final price tag for two reactors was $9 billion.
The new construction in Georgia is expected to create 3,500 jobs building the plant and 800 permanent jobs once the facility is complete, according to a Southern Company press release.
Each new reactor is expected to produce 1,100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power over 800,000 homes.
Too expensive?
Opponents of nuclear power claim the plants are too expensive to build, and fear government support will distort the power market in this country for years to come.
They also fear the plants will be the target of a terrorist attack, and say there is still no plan for what to do with the waste.
Supports contend the plants will get far cheaper after the first few are built, and will be a good source for clean, domestic power.
The Energy Department has stopped building a permanent waste disposal site at Nevada’s Yucca mountain, but says the waste can be safety stored on-site in pools or concrete bunkers for many decades until another site is found.
Lending cash to individuals looking for cash advance or payday loans.
MIAMI — The nation’s roughly 1 million paid tax preparers will soon be regulated by the Internal Revenue Service, which plans to require competency tests and registration with the government.
The new regulations don’t kick in this year, in part because of the size of the undertaking, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said Monday. But the agency will soon send letters to 10,000 preparers with a record of errors on returns.
About 80 percent of taxpayers use a tax preparer or tax software to complete their annual returns. Most are unregulated, unless they are attorneys, certified public accountants or agents who represent taxpayers before the IRS.
More people are turning to preparers or software for help with their taxes as the tax code becomes more complex, he said.
"If we can have preparers fill out taxes right, the American people are well-served," Shulman said. "We’re going to get accurate returns and collect the right amount of money."
Concern about unscrupulous and untrained tax preparers has been longstanding, said Karen Reinagel, president of the Florida Society of Enrolled Agents, a group of tax professionals authorized by the federal government to represent taxpayers in dealings with the IRS. "The taxpayer has no idea if they’ve got the proper education, if they’ve kept up with continuing education," Reinagel said.
People expect hair dressers and auto mechanics to have passed certain tests and acquired certain licenses, and they may assume as much about their tax preparers.
"But if they’re not registered or licensed they don’t have to have an education," Reinagel said. "They wouldn’t think they would have to ask."
The system will be paid for through user fees by tax preparers who register with the government and take the IRS competency tests business card templates.
Eventually, the IRS said, it will have a searchable database for taxpayers to consult before working with a preparer.
Shulman said his agency was already studying potential regulations for tax preparers before recent criticism about abuse of large tax credits offered through federal stimulus laws.
In a report last month by the inspector general for tax administration, as of July 25, about 74,000 taxpayers had wrongly claimed $504 million through the first-time home buyers tax credit that was expanded in last year’s federal stimulus law. The credit pays $8,000 to first time buyers and $6,500 to current owners if they buy a new home.
"Any time there’s a large, refundable tax credit, you’re going to see fraud _ people trying to claim the credit where it’s not earned," Shulman said.
The EITC _ Earned Income Tax Credit _ for low-income individuals and families is also a source of fraud. The credit offers up to $5,600 to those who qualify. Shulman praised that program as having lifted more people out of poverty than any program in the country.
In addition to the new regulations for preparers, IRS agents will visit thousands of tax preparers, sometimes without advance notice. Some agents will pose as taxpayers to gauge what kind of advice a preparer offers. These visits will begin this year.
And the IRS has set up a task force to review tax preparation software and review businesses that offer refund advances.
The rules won’t apply to volunteers who help low-income families and individuals prepare their taxes. But those who work at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program already must pass a test before working on others’ returns.
Learn what faxless payday loans are and how online payday loans can be used as a quick fix to pay off your bills.
Companies in the U.S. expanded in December at the fastest pace in almost four years, signaling the economic recovery is gaining speed heading into 2010.
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said today its barometer rose to 60, exceeding the most optimistic estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and the highest level since January 2006. The gauge, in which readings greater than 50 signal expansion, showed companies boosted production and employment as orders climbed.
Stimulus programs and discounting have propelled a rebound in global sales that is reducing stockpiles, which may spur manufacturers to further increase production in coming months. Caterpillar Inc. is among companies that may recall dismissed staff, pointing to gains in employment that will drive consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy.
“Manufacturing is now moving into recovery,” said David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York, whose estimate was the highest among economists surveyed. “Inventories are rebuilding and exports are looking strong, with the Asian economies looking firmer and the dollar weak.”
Stocks drifted between gains and losses. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was little changed to close at 1,126.42.
Exceeds Estimates
Economists projected the Chicago index would drop to 55.1 from 56.1 in November, based on the median estimate of 53 projections in the Bloomberg survey. Forecasts ranged from 52 to 58.5.
The group’s gauge of orders climbed to the highest level in more than two years and its measure of employment showed growth for the first time since November 2007, the month before the recession began. Indexes of production and order backlogs also improved.
Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of bulldozers and excavators, will bring back some laid-off workers next year as sales improve, said Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens.
“We’ll gradually begin to call people back and to rebuild our overall sales and ability to ship product,” Owens said in a Dec. 11 interview with Bloomberg Television. “I think it will gradually begin to pick up as 2010 unfolds.”
Caterpillar cut about 18,700 full-time jobs and about the same number of temporary workers since December 2008 as the global recession reduced demand. The Peoria, Illinois-based company predicts 2010 sales will increase as much as 25 percent from the midpoint of the 2009 forecast range.
Early Indicator
Economists watch the Chicago index for an early reading on the outlook for overall U.S. manufacturing, which makes up about 12 percent of the economy. The group has said their membership includes both manufacturers and service providers, making the gauge a measure of overall growth.
The Tempe, Arizona-based Institute for Supply Management’s factory index probably rose this month to 54 from 53.6 in November, according to a survey median. That report is due Jan. 4.
The world’s largest economy expanded at a 2.2 percent pace from July through September after a yearlong contraction that was the worst since the 1930s, figures from the Commerce Department showed last week. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast growth to pick up to a 3 percent pace in the fourth quarter and average 2.6 percent for all of 2010.
Exports rose for the sixth month in October as economies worldwide rebounded from the global economic slump. A 13 percent drop in the dollar since March 5 against a basket of six major currencies also making American goods more competitive to overseas buyers.
Inventories Increase
Inventories at U.S. companies rose in October for the first time in more than a year, the government said Dec. 11, a sign firms are boosting production in line with rising sales.
United Parcel Service Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott Davis said Dec. 2 that shipping demand was starting to improve as companies rebuild inventory and consumers began holiday shopping. UPS, the world’s largest package-delivery company, is considered a bellwether for the economy because it handles goods ranging from auto parts to electronics to clothing.
“Inventory has gotten real low,” Davis said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “We think there will be some replenishment of inventories going forward, so the outlook is much better.”
– With assistance from Will Daley in Chicago and Betty Liu in New York. Editors: Carlos Torres, Vince Golle
The Toronto stock market closed lower, led by losses in the telecom sector as a new company joins the wireless wars.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 40.64 points to 11,423.93.
Industry Minister Tony Clement overruled an earlier decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and gave the green light to Globalive Wireless Management Corp. The company will join BCE Inc. (TSX: BCE), Rogers Communications (TSX: RCI.B) and Telus Corp. (TSX: T) in providing cellphone service no fax payday loans.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.85 of a cent to 94.35 cents US. Crude closed 67 cents lower at US$69.87 a barrel.
Solid retail data sent the Dow Jones industrial average up 65.67 points to 10,471.5.
The Nasdaq composite index dipped 0.55 of a point to 2,190.31 while the S&P 500 index climbed 4.07 points to 1,106.42.
Hiring by U.S. discount, grocery, restaurant and specialty chains in November rose to the highest level in 2009, signaling that retailers may be anticipating a gradual recovery in consumer spending, a monthly survey found.
In November, 3.87 percent of applications resulted in hires, the most this year according to seasonally adjusted figures compiled by software maker Kronos Inc. Job applications last month fell to 1.27 million, the lowest since March, after 10 straight months of increases, the closely held Chelmsford, Massachusetts-based company said today in a statement.
While these are classic signs of a gradual, post-recession recovery, last month’s hiring increase might be a “spill over” from October, as retailers delayed the peak season for taking on employees, Robert Yerex, Kronos’s chief economist, said by telephone Dec. 4 from Beaverton, Oregon.
The U.S. jobless rate decreased to 10 percent in November after reaching a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October, according to a Dec. 4 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Retailers “weren’t sure how good or bad this year would be,” Yerex said. “There’s still a little bit of shell shock from 2007 and 2008, when retailers were caught with a lot of people on staff, a lot of product inventory, but a difficult time selling it.”
Kronos’s analysis covers 68 companies with 27,034 U.S. stores. The company makes software that businesses use to process hiring, payroll and scheduling, and manage employees. Chains that use Kronos products account for about 15 percent of U.S. retail jobs, according to the company.
The Obama administration says its stimulus program has created or preserved 12,228 jobs in Arizona this year.
But one leading Arizona economist says that number is not worth the program’s price tag.
Arizona has been allocated $2.8 billion under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, according to the administration. The money covers transportation and water infrastructure contracts, weatherization of low income homes, Medicaid, public school funding and university biomedical research among other projects.
Economist Elliott Pollack said Wednesday dividing the federal allocation and the number of jobs equals about $230,000 per job in Arizona.
“They might as well give people the money,” Pollack said Wednesday at an economic forecast sponsored by Arizona State University and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The Federal Trade Commission is going after bloggers, celebrities and tall tales in the first revision of its rules for endorsements and product reviews in nearly 30 years.
The new guidelines, which go into effect Dec. 1, are designed to adapt to a new world in which blogs and social media Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter have quickly become go-to destinations for consumers to get an opinion about a product. The last FTC rules revision was in 1980.
An existing FTC rule that states product reviewers must reveal any connection they have with advertisers was extended to bloggers. Companies will often distribute free products to bloggers for their review, and sometimes advertisers offer payment for endorsements. The FTC said that endorsements on blogs appear to be "word of mouth," but that is not always the case – sometimes companies create their own blogs that can give the aura of objectivity.
The new rules also clarify that celebrity endorsers of products must reveal their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements if they are pushing a product on a blog, social network or television talk show.
"The test here is, if the relationship were known between the blogger and the advertiser, would that affect the credibility of the endorsement?" FTC assistant director of advertising practices Richard Cleland told CNN. "That question has to be determined on a case by case basis. What we have produced is a general guidance that says in certain cases receiving a free product is not any different than being paid directly for an endorsement."
The FTC also targeted testimonials in ads that convey atypical results for a product online pay day loans. For instance, many weight loss supplement ads will show people who have used the product and have lost large amounts of weight, with a disclaimer at the bottom that reads "results not typical." Under the new rules, the company must disclose the results that consumers should usually expect.
The existing rules carry a fine as high as $11,000 if product endorsers and reviewers don’t comply.
"This is great for consumers," said Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with Yankee Group. "There’s some doubt about blogs now, because you don’t really know whether they’re unbiased or not."
Kerravala said this could be the beginning of a larger attempt for the government to regulate the Internet. Though he doesn’t believe it will be as tightly regulated as the off-line world, some tougher rules may be coming down the pike.
"We’ve gotten to a point where blog rumors could move stocks," said Kerravala. "There have to be some stricter regulations of the Internet. It’s long overdue."
But enforcement could prove difficult. Cleland said the FTC won’t be hiring new personnel to monitor blogs, creating a "game of whack-a-mole" for regulators, given the numbers involved. As a result, the FTC said it is more likely to go after advertisers rather than bloggers to ensure ad companies are giving product reviewers proper instructions about disclosure compliance.
– CNN’s Eric Kuhn contributed to this report
Rhode Island will be open for business Friday.
State workers were scheduled to take their first of 12 furlough days ordered by Gov. Donald Carcieri. But a state Supreme Court justice temporary blocked the shutdown Thursday after several employee unions sued, arguing the move violated their contracts.
More states are furloughing workers these days than at any time since the Eisenhower administration, but unions are increasingly fighting back. Rhode Island workers’ victory Thursday is the latest in a string of legal actions aimed at stopping the shutdowns.
Last month, a federal judge sided with government workers in Prince George’s County, Maryland, who argued that a 10-day furlough violated their contract. After winning a similar ruling in July, Hawaii unions continue to battle Gov. Linda Lingle over her ongoing efforts to institute furloughs.
A growing number of states are turning to furloughs in hopes of balancing their budgets. The recession — and accompanying decline in tax revenues — has wreaked havoc on state spending plans.
Some 750,000 workers in 21 states are being affected by furloughs, said Sujit CanagaRetna, senior fiscal analyst at the Council of State Governments.
"It’s the most number of furloughs we’ve seen in 50 years," he said. "It’s a further indication of the gravity of the financial situation."
Most governors work out agreements with employee unions in order to avoid legal action, experts said. They argue furloughs are more palatable than layoffs.
"Usually budget deals are negotiated," said Nick Johnson, director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ state fiscal project. "It’s unusual to wind up in court quick payday loan."
But it may become more common. In Rhode Island, the two sides are returning to court next Friday for the full Supreme Court to review the unions’ request.
Carcieri, however, said Thursday that he has no choice but to reduce the state payroll. He has asked his department chiefs to identify the last 1,000 people hired and begin notifying them of impending job reductions.
"Preventing the state from moving forward with the shutdown days cripples our ability to address growing budget gaps," Carcieri said in a statement.
Carcieri announced late last month that he would shut down the government for 12 days during fiscal 2010, which ends July 1. This equates to a 4.6% pay cut for public employees, but would save the state $21.6 million. The furlough was in part to slash $67.8 million from the budget.
Union officials, however, argue there are other ways to address the state’s fiscal shortfall, such as raising taxes.
"You cannot balance the state budget on the backs of state workers," said J. Michael Downey, president of Rhode Island Council 94 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Have you suffered a setback because of the economy? What are you doing to overcome it and get back on track? If you’ve been confronted with some challenge during this recession but are fighting back, send an email to realstories@cnnmoney.com and you could be profiled in an upcoming segment on CNN. For the CNNMoney.com Comment Policy, click here.
Use any metaphor you want: the ticking clock, sands running through the hourglass or pages falling away from the calendar. The fact is, time is running out to claim the $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit.
Passed earlier this year as part of the economic stimulus package, the credit is good for up to $8,000, or 10% of the purchase price, and applies to people who have not owned a home in the previous three years. (There are some income restrictions.) The best part: Unlike a similar program from 2008, the credit does not have to be repaid.
The bad part: It ends on Dec. 1.
Because it usually takes around 90 days to close on a house after a contract is signed, buyers have very little time left to act. As of Thurs., Aug. 27, there were only 96 days left before the credit ends.
"Buyers have to get a home under contract very, very soon," said Tom Kunz, CEO of Century 21. "They probably should get out looking."
Sense of urgency
What they will find may surprise them: Many of the prime properties have already been snapped up. Home sales have been on the upswing, and inventories are so depleted in hot markets that first-time buyers are struggling to find homes in their price range. (Check prices in your city.)
In Whittier, Calif., for example, there are few repossessed homes for sale. Those are easy to buy because there isn’t a lot of red tape and the bank wants to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Instead, most of the properties are short sales, where the sellers have to convince their lender to let them sell the house for less than they owe.
"That’s why there’s such a sense of urgency now," said Irma Tapper, a Century 21 real estate agent in Whittier. "The banks have to approve short sales, and they’re taking three to six months to do that."
That means a first timer putting a bid on a short-sale might not get an answer form the bank until well after the Dec. 1 deadline for the tax credit. So when an actual repossession listing hits the markets, it creates a feeding frenzy.
Chuck Whitehead, who runs the Coldwell Banker agency in Temecula, Calif., said one recent listing hit the market on a Friday and by Monday there were 57 bids.
The National Association of Realtors attributes much of this activity to the first-time buyer tax credit. It estimates that 1.8 million buyers will file for the credit, and 350,000 of them wouldn’t have been able to buy without it paydayloans.
"It makes a big difference because most of these clients are in a lower price range," said Michelle Edmunds, an agent with Coldwell Banker in Temecula, Calf., who has closed sales for six first-time buyers. "The houses they buy need work and normally they wouldn’t want to move in because of the [less than perfect] conditions the homes are in."
That is true for Wesley Forsythe. This June, the 30-year-old computer consultant and his girlfriend bought a row house in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. Since he paid just $80,000 for the three-bedroom, two-bath place, the credit acted like a 10% discount.
"It allowed us to expand our price range and plan additional renovations," he said. "My mortgage is several hundred dollars less than what my new rent would have been."
Forsythe applied for the credit immediately after closing, filing an amended 2008 tax return. The IRS cut him a check in less than seven weeks. He’s spending it now on new hardwood floors, repainting most of the interior and renovating a bathroom. He’s stretching the cash by doing much of the work himself.
Cash for Clunkers effect
Of course, analysts worry that this frenzy will dry up once the tax credit expires. They argue that without the incentive, much of the pressure on homebuyers to act quickly will vanish, and the nascent housing recovery could slump.
In many ways the tax credit is similar to the Cash for Clunkers program that ended this week. Already, auto dealers are anticipating that car sales will evaporate after accelerating during the program.
"It’s just like Cash for Clunkers," said Robert Dye, a senior economist for PNC Financial Services Group. "It runs the risk of a let-down as the program runs its course."
Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who is a former real estate broker, is pushing legislation to extend the tax credit through next year, increase it to $15,000, include non-first-time homebuyers, and remove income restrictions.
The effort has drawn strong industry support.
"We need to stimulate the move-up buyer," said Century 21’s Kunz, "so it works its way up the pricing food chain. That’s what we need to get inventory moving again."
Nine months ago, a historic meeting was breaking up in the ballroom of a Secaucus, N.J., hotel. Anheuser-Busch shareholders had just agreed to sell America’s biggest brewer to an aggressive Belgian brewer called InBev.
August A. Busch IV, whose stint as chief executive of Anheuser-Busch would end with the sale, stepped down from the podium. "A bittersweet day," he said.
And then, Busch — the fifth generation of his family to lead Anheuser-Busch — slipped out of the hotel’s lobby.
But he wasn’t supposed to slip out of the public’s eye.
The new regime had given him a seat on the board of the combined company and a lucrative consulting deal — indications that he would be a sort of public ambassador for the new Anheuser-Busch InBev. Many expected him to ease Anheuser-Busch’s transition to new ownership, and act as a liaison between the new owners and A-B’s many constituencies.
It hasn’t worked out that way.
Since the buyout, Busch has not been spotted at industry events. No quotes in media reports, no pictures at meet-and-greets. From trade meetings to sales conferences with distributors, Busch has been a no-show.
"He has not been visible in the beer industry," said Harry Schuhmacher, editor of Beer Business Daily. "I just haven’t heard of him being around."
The disappearance seems odd given how much InBev paid for Busch’s services. As part of the buyout, InBev made him a highly paid consultant for Carlos Brito, CEO of the combined company.
Busch, 45, received $10.35 million as a lump sum and started collecting additional fees of about $120,000 a month. He also got a personal security detail and free access to events sponsored by A-B.
The official merger document seemed to outline a clear role for him at Anheuser-Busch InBev. At Brito’s request, Busch would advise InBev on new products; review marketing programs; meet with retailers, wholesalers, advertisers and the media; scrutinize the quality of Anheuser-Busch’s beers; and give advice about A-B’s relationship with charitable organizations and local communities.
"He was supposed to represent continuity from one era to the next, but I don’t know if he’s played much of a role" in the combined company, said Benj Steinman, editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights.
The lucrative consulting deal also tied Busch and InBev to a mutual "non-disparagement" covenant, limiting what Busch could say about InBev and what InBev could say about him. The company declined to make Busch available for an interview. Reached directly by the Post-Dispatch, Busch declined to comment, citing the consulting deal.
If anyone has emerged as the public face of A-B since Busch stepped aside, it’s Dave Peacock, who was Busch’s right-hand man and is now president of Anheuser-Busch. Since InBev acquired A-B, Peacock has led the company’s efforts to maintain alliances with distributors and employees.
Peacock has represented the company for signature events such as the Super Bowl, while speaking on behalf of the company when controversies have arisen, such as the company’s decision to cut more than 1,000 area jobs in December.
A-B InBev acknowledges that Busch’s work for the company has been limited to behind-the-scenes activity. A spokeswoman told the Post-Dispatch that his contributions "have proven very valuable," especially relating to the U.S. market. She did not enumerate those contributions. The company also declined to say how many board meetings Busch attended, or when.
Did InBev ever intend to lean heavily on Busch after the takeover? Veteran consultant Tom Pirko said it was not surprising that Busch was not prominent in the new company’s dealings bad credit car loans.
InBev wanted to change Anheuser-Busch’s culture and get rid of the Busch family’s hierarchy, Pirko said. The lucrative consulting arrangement was a way of hitting "the eject button" on the Busch family that had run the brewer since the Civil War.
"They wanted a clean break, without the baggage of the past," Pirko said. "When you do that, you have to remove the faces. To be a new company, you have to have new people."
The apparent withdrawal from public life isn’t just at the brewer. In January, Busch resigned as a director of FedEx Corp., a position he had held since 2003. That same month, he was granted a divorce from his wife of 2 1/2 years.
The next month, Anheuser-Busch held a large meeting of beer wholesalers in Houston. The event, aimed at introducing distributors to the new owners, would have been a perfect place to roll out August Busch IV. It would have been an opportunity to show continuity among all the changes. But he didn’t appear, according to industry observers.
Lately, Busch is splitting time between a new home near the Lake of the Ozarks and his other residence in Huntleigh. Busch, an experienced pilot, has been devoting some time to flying.
Not long ago, Busch was leading one of the world’s biggest brewers, trying to boost it out of a period of slow growth.
After being tapped in 2006 as the new chief executive, Busch became known for a management style more easygoing and low-key than that of his hard-charging father, August A. Busch III. In public appearances, the younger Busch was personable and energetic, Anheuser-Busch’s cheerleader in chief. He popped up at numerous state meetings, industry conferences and legislative summit meetings.
In April 2008, Busch IV rallied employees at a party outside A-B’s packaging plant on Pestalozzi Street to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Prohibition’s end.
"I love you guys, you ladies!" he said to rousing applause. "What an honor. An emotional day." Busch held up a bottle of Budweiser. "Here’s to our future … and another 75 fantastic years. Let’s go get ‘em!"
A few weeks later, at the company’s annual meeting at SeaWorld, Busch showed shareholders some of the company’s Super Bowl commercials, chatted about A-B’s NASCAR sponsorship and urged the hundreds of assembled investors to try some new Bud Light Lime.
Soon after A-B’s board approved InBev’s takeover bid on July 13, Busch started slipping into the shadows.
Perhaps, this shouldn’t have been a surprise, as an early scene of the A-B InBev era suggests.
It was the Monday morning after InBev’s acquisition of A-B was consummated. Busch joined the victorious Brito on a conference call with analysts and reporters. Busch spoke briefly of his faith that the Brazilian executive would "honor his public commitments and continue the traditions that have made Anheuser-Busch a success."
Then, for more than an hour, Brito talked about the future, outlining his plans for the new company. When Brito was through, he asked the St. Louis executives if they had anything to add.
Peacock offered a quick closing comment.
Busch remained silent.
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