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 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 Febr ...

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 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 E ...

Early life

Heineken was born on 4 November 1923 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. He was the grandson of

, who was the founder of the brewery

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 that owned 50.005% of

; 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 Cam ...

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, ...

s (around 15,800,000 euros). The kidnappers –

Cor van Hout Cornelis (Cor) van Hout (18 August 1957 – 24 January 2003) was a Dutch criminal and mastermind of the kidnapping of beer magnate Freddy Heineken. Life Kidnapping and imprisonment During the abduction, Van Hout collaborated with Willem Holleed ...

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 of ...

, 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, 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 t ...

for years, until he was discovered by reporter

Peter R. de Vries Peter Rudolf de Vries (14 November 1956 – 15 July 2021) was a Dutch investigative journalist and crime reporter. His television program (''Crime Reporter''; 1995−2012) covered high-profile cases and set a Dutch television viewing record. F ...

and imprisoned there. In 2003, Meijer stopped resisting his extradition to the Netherlands, and was transferred to a Dutch prison to serve the last part of his term. The films '' The Heineken Kidnapping'' (2011) and '' Kidnapping Freddy Heineken'' (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 ...

family of bourbon whiskey 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 severit ...

on 3 January 2002 at the age of 78 in his home in Noordwijk in the presence of his immediate family, including his daughter Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken. 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 i ...

(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'', with Rutger Hauer playing Freddy Heineken, was released in October 2011. A second film, ''

Kidnapping Mr. Heineken ''Kidnapping Freddy Heineken'' (U.S. title ''Kidnapping Mr. Heineken'') is a 2015 British-Dutch crime drama film directed by Daniel Alfredson based on the 1983 kidnapping of Freddy Heineken. The screenplay, based on the 1987 book by Peter R. de ...

'', 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?'', 1992.

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