Freddy Heineken (1923-2002)

Born on November 4, 1923, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the son of Henry Pierre and Carla Heineken, Alfred Henry Heineken was always destined to work for the company that his grandfather had started in 1863.

Entering the company Heineken on June 1, 1941, during the Germany occupation of the country, Freddy was keen in advertising the product and he did so actively and passionately.

The company was founded in 1864 by his grandfather Gerard Adriaan Heineken but his son and successor, Henry Pierre, sold the family’s majority stake in 1942. And Freddy always wanted to buy it back. This he managed in 1954 when he bought it by establishing Heineken Holdings, of which he held a majority stake and he used this to buy 50.005 percent of the shares in Heineken International.

Within ten years he was financial director and also took charge of marketing and advertising, later culminating in the hugely successful campaign centered on the slogan ‘Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach,’ originally voiced for television by Danish entertainer Victor Borge.

As chairman of the board of directors of the company from 1971 until his resignation in 1989, he helped expand the company considerably. Freddy ran the company with a beady eye for the main chance, increasing its sales dramatically both at home and abroad.

In 2002, his daughter Charlene Lucille de Carvalho -Heineken inherited his shares in the brewery, becoming the riches Dutch persons.
Freddy Heineken (1923-2002)