the man makes beer, the
man makes good beer and
beer is good to drink
1 9 2 3 - 2 O O 2
as chairman of the Executive Board in 1989, he said, "I don't think
it's right that the success of the Heineken Group should be put
down to just one man. All my life I've been an ordinary little man -
off to the office every day, work hard, back home in the evening,
watch a bit of television and pop out to the pub every now and
then. That's why I'm not thinking of writing a biography. It would
be a dull old story. Only when I need the money will I write my
autobiography."
Alfred Heineken did, however, cooperate enthusiastically with the
production of'The Magic of Heineken' in 2000, a history of
Heineken N.V., in which, among other things, he was
characteristically dismissive about the numerous attempts that
have been made to explain his success: "I can't understand all the
fuss... the man makes beer, the man makes good beer and the
beer is good to drink... that's it, end of story. What people think of
me never really bothered me. I really don't care what people
think of me, never did. I regard myself as totally unimportant, but
nobody believes me." Image and reality - Alfred Heineken steered
a middle course between these two worlds all through his life.
And he did so phenomenally well.
