August Busch III ousted his father from Anheuser-Busch in a boardroom coup, and 33 years later the family lost the company

Gussie Busch ran Anheuser-Busch, founded by his great-grandfather's partner and his grandfather Adolphus, and the St. Louis Cardinals. At the end of 1974 his youngest daughter died, and in the months that followed he became hard to work with. In May 1975 his son August Busch III led a boardroom coup that forced him out as chief executive and chairman. He was allowed to remain Cardinals president, with company perks, only if he described the change as voluntary. About a year later he considered joining R. J. Reynolds in a hostile takeover to regain control, then decided he could not take the company from the family; this stayed secret for ten years. He died in 1989. Divisions from the coup persisted for decades. In June 2008 InBev offered $46 billion. Anheuser-Busch, then run by August Busch IV, rejected it and sued, then agreed on July 13, 2008 to $70 a share, about $52 billion. The deal closed on November 18, 2008, ending family control.