Alfred Henry "Freddy" Heineken (4 November 1923 – 3 January 2002) was a Dutch businessman for
Heineken International
Heineken N.V. () is a Dutch multinational brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. , Heineken owns over 165 breweries in more than 70 countries. It produces 348 international, regional, local and speciality be ...
, the
brewing company
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of beer ...
bought in 1864 by his grandfather
Gerard Adriaan Heineken
Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star.
History
On 15 Feb ...
in Amsterdam. He served as chairman of the board of directors and CEO from 1971 until 1989. After his retirement as chairman and CEO, Heineken continued to sit on the board of directors until his death and served as chairman of the
supervisory board
In corporate governance, a governance board also known as council of delegates are chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and fire the board of directors.
In civil s ...
from 1989 till 1995. At the time of his death, Heineken was one of the richest people in the Netherlands, with a net worth of 9.5 billion
guilders
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...
.
Early life
Heineken was born on 4 November 1923 in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. He was the grandson of
Gerard Adriaan Heineken
Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star.
History
On 15 Feb ...
, who was the founder of the brewery
Heineken International
Heineken N.V. () is a Dutch multinational brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. , Heineken owns over 165 breweries in more than 70 countries. It produces 348 international, regional, local and speciality be ...
.
Career
On 1 June 1941, he entered the service of the Heineken company, which by then was no longer owned by the family. He bought back stock several years later, to ensure the family controlled the company again. He created the
Heineken Holding
Heineken N.V. () is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational brewery, brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. , Heineken owns over 165 breweries in more than 70 countries. It produces 348 international, ...
that owned 50.005% of
Heineken International
Heineken N.V. () is a Dutch multinational brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. , Heineken owns over 165 breweries in more than 70 countries. It produces 348 international, regional, local and speciality be ...
; he personally held a majority stake in Heineken Holding. By the time of his resignation as chairman of the board in 1989 he had transformed Heineken from a brand that was known primarily in the Netherlands into a brand name recognized worldwide.
Kidnapping
Freddy Heineken and his driver Ab Doderer were
kidnapped
Kidnapped may refer to:
* subject to the crime of kidnapping
Literature
* ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
* ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...
in 1983 and released on a ransom of 35 million
Dutch guilder
The guilder ( nl, gulden, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from the 15th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro.
The Dutch name ''gulden'' was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning "golden", and reflects the fact that, wh ...
s (around 15,800,000
euros
The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . T ...
). The kidnappers –
Cor van Hout,
Willem Holleeder
Willem Frederik Holleeder (born 29 May 1958) is a Dutch criminal. He is nicknamed ''De Neus'' (''The Nose'') because of the size of his nose.
In 1983, Holleeder was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment for his involvement in the kidnapping o ...
, Jan Boellaard, Frans Meijer, and Martin Erkamps – were eventually caught and served prison terms. Before being extradited, Van Hout and Holleeder stayed for more than three years in France, first on the run, then in prison, and then, awaiting a change of the extradition treaty, under
house arrest
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
, and finally in prison again. Meijer escaped and lived in
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
for years, until he was discovered by reporter
Peter R. de Vries and imprisoned there. In 2003, Meijer stopped resisting his
extradition
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
to the Netherlands, and was transferred to a Dutch prison to serve the last part of his term.
The films ''
The Heineken Kidnapping
''The Heineken Kidnapping'' ( nl, De Heineken Ontvoering) is a 2011 Dutch crime film directed by Maarten Treurniet, based on the kidnapping of Freddy Heineken.
Cast
Premise
A bold and amateur kidnapping goes wildly awry in this fictionalized ...
'' (2011) and ''
Kidnapping Freddy Heineken
''Kidnapping Freddy Heineken'' (U.S. title ''Kidnapping Mr. Heineken'') is a 2015 British-Dutch crime thriller film, crime drama film directed by Daniel Alfredson based on the 1983 kidnapping of Freddy Heineken. The screenplay, based on the 1987 ...
'' (2015) are based on this incident.
Personal life
Heineken married Lucille Cummins, an American from a
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
family of
bourbon whiskey
Bourbon () is a type of barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn. The name derives from the French Bourbon dynasty, although the precise source of inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County in Kentucky and Bourbo ...
distillers. Heineken died from
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
on 3 January 2002 at the age of 78 in his home in
Noordwijk
Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in .
On 1 January 2019, the former municipality of Noordwij ...
in the presence of his immediate family, including his daughter
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken (born 30 June 1954) is a Dutch billionaire businesswoman, and the owner of a 25% controlling interest in the world's second-largest brewer, Heineken N.V. She is the richest person in the Netherlands, with a net wo ...
. Heineken struggled for some time with deteriorating health; in 1999 he suffered a mild stroke but recovered. Shortly before his death he broke his arm in a fall. Heineken was buried at the General Cemetery in Noordwijk. Heineken's daughter inherited his fortune. Heineken was a member of the
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...
(VVD).
Heineken, in 1989, illegally destroyed the Villa Böhler in Oberalpina, designed by Heinrich Tessenow from 1916-18.
In popular culture
A film of the kidnapping, ''
De Heineken Ontvoering
''The Heineken Kidnapping'' ( nl, De Heineken Ontvoering) is a 2011 Dutch crime film directed by Maarten Treurniet, based on the kidnapping of Freddy Heineken.
Cast
Premise
A bold and amateur kidnapping goes wildly awry in this fictionalized ...
'', with
Rutger Hauer
Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century.
Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...
playing Freddy Heineken, was released in October 2011. A second film, ''
Kidnapping Mr. Heineken'', based on De Vries' book about the kidnapping, was produced by Informant Media in 2013 based on the scenario written by William Brookfield. In this film Heineken is played by
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
with the kidnappers played by Jim Sturgess, Sam Worthington, Ryan Kwanten, Mark van Eeuwen and Thomas Cocquerel.
Book
* ''
The United States of Europe, A Eurotopia?
''The United States of Europe, A Eurotopia?'' is a plan, advanced in 1992 by the Dutch beer brewer and pro-European political activist Freddy Heineken. He proposes a federal United States of Europe, in which larger European countries break into ...
'', 1992.
See also
*
List of kidnappings
*
List of solved missing person cases
Lists of solved missing person cases include:
* List of solved missing person cases: pre-2000
* List of solved missing person cases: post-2000
See also
* List of kidnappings
* List of murder convictions without a body
* List of people who di ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heineken, Freddy
1923 births
2002 deaths
20th-century Dutch businesspeople
Dutch corporate directors
Dutch investors
Dutch stock traders
Dutch billionaires
Dutch public relations people
Dutch chief executives in the food industry
Chief marketing officers
Chairmen of Heineken International
Stockbrokers
Heineken people
Dutch expatriates in the United States
Kidnapped businesspeople
Marketing theorists
Market researchers
Dutch marketing people
Members of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Dutch brewers
Businesspeople from Amsterdam
Kidnapped Dutch people
People from Noordwijk