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John Kinder Labatt

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (1803-October 26, 1866)
    Born and raised in Mountmellick, Laois County, Ireland
    Owned a 200-acre farm
    Moved to London, Ontario, Canada (1833)
    Founder of John Labatt’s Brewery (now known as Labatt Breweries)

Why he might be annoying:

    He named the business and his son after himself (ego-maniac!).
    He wrote to his wife: 'I fancy that I should like brewing better than anything else, but that is impossible.'
    To start his brewery, he borrowed £500 from his aunt.
    While he was still alive, his operation could only produce 4,000 barrels of beer each year (increased to 30,000/year a decade after his death).
    As an adult, his grandson was kidnapped for ransom (he was returned unharmed).
    Although his company still claims to be Canadian, it was taken over by Belgian conglomerate Interbrew in 1995 (for $2.7 billion).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He anticipated that his business would grow tremendously after the completion of the Great Western Railway in the late 1850's and expanded his market outside of London, Ontario.
    He is the namesake of an arena for the London Knights (Ontario Hockey League).
    Since 1980, Labatt's Blue (released in the 1950's) has been one of Canada's best selling beers.
    His company went on to own retail stores, the Discovery Channel and owned a large portion of baseball's Toronto Blue Jays.

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 26 Votes: 42.31% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 43.75% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 21 Votes: 47.62% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 29 Votes: 41.38% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 68 Votes: 70.59% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 63 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 135 Votes: 42.22% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 176 Votes: 51.14% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 232 Votes: 43.53% Annoying
    In 2003, Out of 191 Votes: 47.12% Annoying