Anheuser-Busch InBev
AB InBev generated $59.8B and $21B EBITDA through scale economies, controlling 25% global beer volume with eight top-10 brands.
AB InBev's dominance rests on economies of scale that create cost advantages competitors can't match. Controlling 25% of global beer volume with $59.8 billion in 2024 revenue, the company operates like apex predators: size itself becomes competitive advantage through superior resource extraction efficiency. EBITDA reached $21 billion with margin expansion across all five regions while delivering $11.3 billion in free cash flow—$2.5 billion above 2023. This is metabolic efficiency at scale: the largest organism processes resources most efficiently because fixed costs spread across higher volume. AB InBev's cost per hectoliter is structurally lower than smaller brewers, creating a moat that scale defends.
The company's strategy demonstrates preferential attachment in brand building. Corona was named the world's most valuable beer brand in 2025 for the second consecutive year, with eight of the top 10 global beer brands belonging to AB InBev. Market leaders attract the best distribution, the best shelf space, the best talent—success becomes self-reinforcing. The company gained or maintained market share in 60% of markets with volumes increasing in 50% of them, not through superior product but through superior market position that creates advantages at every level: purchasing power on inputs, bargaining power with distributors, advertising efficiency through megabrands.
AB InBev's 2024-2025 performance reveals the biological tension between scale efficiency and market adaptation. The company reduced net debt by $6.9 billion to reach 2.89x net debt-to-EBITDA (below 3.0x for the first time since 2015) while increasing dividends 22% to €1.00 per share—financial homeostasis after years of acquisition-fueled leverage. But total volume declined 1.4% due to soft China and Argentina markets, showing that even apex predators face constraints when prey populations contract. The beyond-beer strategy (Cutwater and Nütrl spirits-based RTDs growing mid-teens) represents niche expansion: when the core territory reaches carrying capacity, expand into adjacent niches where scale advantages still apply.