InBev CEO Brito: Brazil to Belgium to Bud

By AOIFE WHITE, AP Business Writer 1 hour, 11 minutes ago

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The man who would be King of Beers is a no-frills leader without a company car or even his own desk.

Carlos Brito, chief executive of brewer InBev SA, says he doesn't care for perks — and neither should the people who work for him.

"I don't want the company to give me free beer; I can buy my own beer," he told Stanford MBA students earlier this year.

Brito, who will be leading Anheuser-Busch after the company agreed to InBev's $52 billion takeover offer, has been described as "an American-style" manager who is fiercely private and admits himself that he did not always get "the people thing," when he started off in sales.

Anheuser-Busch is a perked-up company with corporate jets for executives and free beer for the workers — as well as generous donations to local communities and politicians. Similar employee extras at Belgium's Interbrew vanished when it merged with Brito's Brazil-based AmBev in 2004.

"His reputation precedes him as a no-frills, no-thrills severe cost-cutter," says Eric Shepard, editor of beer industry newsletter Beer Marketer's Insights.

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