OBIT/In Memory of Alfred Heineken.

City Desks

OBIT...

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 3, 2002

It is with great sadness that the Management Board of Heineken Holding N.V. and the Executive Board of Heineken N.V. announce that this evening Dr. Alfred H. Heineken died peacefully at home in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, at the age of 78.

The company mourns the loss of a man who, on June 1, 1942 at the age of 18, first came to work at the brewery, which his grandfather had acquired in 1864. Heineken N.V. is indebted to Mr. Heineken for having built the family business into the leading international brewery group it is today.

Alfred Heineken was for many years Chairman and Delegate Member of the Management Board of Heineken Holding N.V., the company which holds a controlling interest in the brewery. In keeping with Mr. Heineken's wishes, control of Heineken Holding will remain in the family.

A private funeral service will be held for close family members only.

"With the passing of Freddy Heineken, we have lost a unique man," says Karel Vuursteen, Chairman of the Executive Board of Heineken N.V. "He was devoted to our company heart and soul. His breadth of knowledge, creativity, intuition and good humour made him the multi-faceted personality he was. I know I speak for all the employees when I say that we have a lot to thank him for. Freddy Heineken's name will forever be linked with our company."

A photograph will be made available on the web-site www.heinekencorp.com

Heineken is a leading international brewer, marketing some of the most successful brand names worldwide.

Heineken N.V. and Heineken Holding N.V. shares are listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange. Prices for the ordinary shares may be accessed on Bloomberg under the symbols HEIN NA and HEHN NA, on the Reuter Equities 2000 Service under HEIN.AS and HEHN.AS and on Quotron under HEINN.EU and HKAN.EU. Additional information is available on Heineken's home page: http://www.heinekencorp.com.

HEINEKEN, A.H. (ALFRED HENRY)
Born in Amsterdam, on November 4, 1923


Employment
----------

1942 - 1995        Heineken N.V.

Executive
 positions:        1951 - 1958        Member of the Supervisory Board
                   1958 - 1964        Delegate Member of the
                                        Supervisory Board
                   1964 - 1969        Member of the Executive Board
                   1969 - 1971        Vice-Chairman of the
                                        Executive Board
                   1971 - 1989        Chairman of the Executive Board

                   1989 - 1995        Chairman and Delegate Member of
                                        the Supervisory Board

1952 - 2002        Heineken Holding N.V.

Executive
 positions:        1962 - 1979        Delegate Member of the Board of
                                        Directors
                   1979 - 2002        Chairman and Delegate Member of
                                        the Board of Directors

Additional functions
--------------------

-   Member of the Supervisory Board of Thyssen Bornemisza SAM

-   Member of the Supervisory Board of British Petroleum Company
    Nederland B.V.

-   Member of the Supervisory Board of ABN (Algemene Bank Nederland)

-   Member of the Supervisory Board of SHV (Steenkolen
    Handelsvereniging)


Decorations
-----------

-   Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion (1983)

-   Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour (France) (1983)

-   Honorary Doctorate of Law of the University of Rochester (1989)

-   Commander of the Order of Orange Nassau (1989)

-   Honorary Title Master of Business Administration of INSEAD (1989)

-   Silver Medal of Mayor and Aldermen of Amsterdam (1989)

-   1990 Silver Academy Medal of the Royal Netherlands Academy of
    Sciences (KNAW)

-   Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honour (France) (1991)

-   Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters of the Hofstra University,
    New York (1996)

PROFILE

The Life of Alfred Henry Heineken

Born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on November 4, 1923

Died in Noordwijk, The Netherlands on January 3, 2002

'In the end life is all about advertising'

Alfred Henry Heineken was born on November 4, 1923 in Amsterdam. His grandfather, Gerard Adriaan Heineken, founded the Heineken brewery in 1864 and his father, Henry Pierre Heineken, ran the company from 1914 to 1940. Alfred Henry Heineken started working in the brewery on June 1, 1942. From March 1946 to September 1948 he worked in the sales department of Heineken's American importer. It was during this period that his life changed completely: he became passionately interested in advertising and, most importantly, he met Lucille Cummins, a young American lady, whom he married on August 28, 1948.

In 1951, he started working at the Heineken Head Office in Amsterdam where he became the key figure in the Advertising Department, which he had set up. "Had I not been a beer brewer I would have become an advertising man," said Alfred Heineken. The magic of the Heineken brand became his life's work. He was the man who introduced the smiling letter 'e' in the Heineken brand name, he made the Heineken brand colour green and he was the man who was the spiritual father of the Heineken logo as we know it today, the combination of a star, a banner and a hop vine. Alfred Heineken, the brewer, turned out to be a marketing genius in an age when the term 'marketing' was still unknown. "I don't sell beer, I sell warmth," was his motto.

Although his father lost the family's controlling interest in 1942, Alfred Heineken managed to regain the majority shareholding in Heineken N.V. He was a member of the Supervisory Board of Heineken N.V. from 1951 to 1958 and a delegated member of the Supervisory Board from 1958 to 1964. In 1964 he became a member of the Executive Board, and from 1971 to 1989 he was Chairman of the Executive Board of Heineken N.V. Under his leadership, the Heineken brewery grew into a global company. Alfred Heineken, as the majority shareholder and Chairman of the Board, was in a position to set out the long-term strategy for the company.

His vision was to make the Heineken brand a global brand and to conquer the European markets with the Heineken brand. By the time he retired as Chairman of the Executive Board on April 27, 1989, Heineken had become the most international brewery group in the world. From 1989 to 1995 he was Chairman of the Supervisory Board and a delegated member of the Supervisory Board. This was his last official position within Heineken N.V. He did, however, remain the majority shareholder and Chairman of the Management Board of Heineken Holding N.V., the company, which holds the controlling interest in Heineken N.V.

Alfred Heineken was also very active in social and cultural affairs. In honour of his father, he founded the Dr. H.P. Heineken Foundation, a foundation that since 1964 has awarded every two years cash prizes for pioneering, scientific work in biochemistry and biophysics. In the 1980s, Mr. Heineken founded the Alfred Heineken Fondsen Foundation, which awards, also every two years, four cash prizes to the sciences and the arts. Three Dr. A.H. Heineken prizes are awarded for exceptional achievements in medicine, historical science and the environmental sciences. The fourth prize goes to an artist living and working in the Netherlands. Alfred Heineken has been decorated for several of his activities. He was made a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion and a Commander in the Order of Oranje-Nassau. In France, he was made first a Knight and later an Officer in the Order of the Legion of Honour. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Rochester. INSEAD, the international management institute, awarded him the honorary title of Master of Business Administration. The Burgomaster and Aldermen of Amsterdam presented him with the Silver Medallion of the capital, and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences presented him with the Silver Academy Medallion in 1990. The board of the Cannes international advertising festival acclaimed him Advertising Man of the Year in 1995. In 1999, he was chosen as Advertiser of the Century in the Netherlands, and the Heineken brand was awarded Brand of the Century.

'Freddy' Heineken, as he was known to his many friends and a few close colleagues, had a very intense love of music, architecture, film, photography and visual arts. He found the ideal of the homo universalis most appealing. His wide knowledge, creativity, intuition and humour made him an extremely fascinating personality. His kidnapping on November 9, 1983, and his subsequent release three weeks later, were world news. Following that traumatic experience, Alfred Heineken limited his public appearances and became very protective of his private life. In the few interviews he gave he was known as a man who spoke his mind and had strong views on a wide variety of subjects, including on the subject of death: "It is not all that dreadful to die, because it was not all that bad before you were born."

The driving force in his life was his family. Alfred Heineken is survived by his wife, his daughter, his son-in-law and his five grandchildren.

Alfred Henry Heineken died on January 3, 2002. Today the world says farewell to a man of many talents. The Heineken organisation is deeply indebted to him.