Freddy Heineken

He entered the service of the company (which by then was no longer owned by the family) on 1 June 1941 and bought back stock several years later, to ensure the family controlled the company again.

By the time of his resignation as chairman of the board in 1989 he had turned Heineken from a brand that was famous in the Netherlands to a brand that was famous all over the world.

Freddy Heineken and his chauffeur Ab Doderer were kidnapped in 1983 and released on a ransom of 35 million guilders (about 16 million Euros). The kidnappers were Cor van Hout, Willem Holleeder, Frans Meijer and Jan Boelaard.

Cor, Willem and Jan served their prison term in the Netherlands, but Frans escaped and lived in Paraguay for years, until he was discovered and imprisoned there. In 2003 he stopped resisting his extradition to the Netherlands, and was transferred to a Dutch prison to serve the last part of his term there.

Jan is in prison again after killing a customs official.

Cor has been in prison again for drugs trade and was murdered in 2003. The funeral procession through Amsterdam with a horse-drawn carriage and many limousines was frowned upon by many, looking more like the funeral of royalty than that of a criminal.