Take a sip, folks. Bill Gates and his foundation are investing some big money into Heineken (OTCMKTS:HEINY). The Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) founder just invested $902 million into Heineken Holding NV, which is the controlling shareholder of Heineken. Accordingly, with this exposure, Bill Gates will become one of the largest shareholders in the world’s second-largest brewing company, despite previously stating he is “not a big beer drinker.”
The over-the-counter shares of Heineken stock are up more than 1.5% on this news today. For Heineken stock, that’s a relatively large move. Accordingly, it appears a number of investors are jumping on this stock, looking to ride Gates’ coattails given his relatively strong performance in other long-term holdings.
Let’s dive into what investors may want to make of this move.
Bill Gates Is Driving Serious Interest In This Beer Stock
This is a massive investment for Gates and his foundation. Indeed, any near-billion-dollar deal is likely to generate attention on Wall Street. Today, investors are wondering what Bill Gates knows and we don’t.
The Gates Foundation invests in a wide range of companies in different industries. Indeed, this massive deal only further diversifies the foundation’s holdings, and Gates’ personal portfolio as well. Thus, there’s an argument to be made in favor of such an investment on this basis alone.
But considering Gates isn’t much of a beer fanatic and tends to focus on his philanthropic efforts these days, this deal has clearly raised many investors’ eyebrows for good reason.
The 3.8% stake in Heineken (10.83 million shares) was worth roughly $902 million as of Feb. 17. However, given the run these shares have been on over the past week, Gates’ stake is already much closer to $1 billion in value.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
