This post is part of our feature on Money Winners of 2008. See all 20.

Well, "my pal Warren" did it again. "The richest man in the world" -- it has a nice ring to it.

Though the moniker did not last throughout the year due to the violent markets, and his significant holdings in insurance, Geico and General RE; banking, US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC); and credit card company American Express (NYSE: AXP), which all dropped, he is still viewed as the top investment guru in the world, deserving his title -- the Oracle of Omaha. These are likely only temporary setbacks and he may very well be back on top soon.

Warren Buffett has been alternating places with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) founder Bill Gates over the past decade. Since Microsoft shares are only down about 35% this year, less than the overall market, and since that remains his largest holding, Gates edged out Buffett at last measure. Although Buffett is notorious for not investing in "tech-stocks," he has stated he did buy 100 shares of Microsoft after he and Gates became friends.

It has been quite a year indeed for Buffett because in all the market turmoil he has remained very active, and he has advised both presidential candidates when asked, though he has supported the Democratic Party and president-elect Barack Obama, who has more actively sought his advice as of late.

We have posted numerous articles about the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) by InBev (NV) and it now looks like the deal has been done at a price of $70 per share. However, what made this deal work for InBev might have been that the dollar has fallen so far.

The exchange rate between the dollar and Euro gives InBev a 30% to 35% discount making the acquisition price seem like a great deal for BUD shareholders but an even better one for InBev shareholders. And if the the currency exchange rates shift back over time then all the shareholders win.

This means that Americans will be answering to the Dutch Belgians. If the dollar had gained against the Euro instead of becoming weaker is it possible that Anheuser-Busch (BUD) would have bought out InBev (NV)? If the dollar stays down or drifts lower as seems likely right now look for more M&A activity from abroad.

In the mean time, since 'my pal Warren', is the largest shareholder of BUD through Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) and supports the deal, will he remain a shareholder of the new company? No doubt this increases the value of Berkshire, but does this set the stage for Buffett to enter the European market in a big way?

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I own shares of BRK.B.

It's official -- a company that has stood for generations of Busch's as an icon of the American beer industry is no more. Reuters reports that Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) has accepted a $50 billion offer to be acquired by InBev. Reuters reports that the combined company will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev.

I have been watching advertisements from Anheuser-Busch for years and I think they have been the most entertaining around. InBev is known as an aggressive cost cutter and it's not clear whether these ads will continue into the future. One thing that would not surprise me in the least would be for the Busch family -- whose sons have run the place for generations -- to take their money and leave the business.

With Abu Dhabi buying Manhattan's Chrysler building last week, it will be interesting to see what other American icons get sold off to the highest global bidder before the next president takes office.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Yesterday Anheuser-Busch Cos. (NYSE:BUD) reported a first quarter EPS of $.67, short of the $.69 analysts had expected, and the market reacted with a share price drop of $1.45 to close at $50.90.

The company reported sales of 37.6 million barrels of suds for the quarter, up 2.2% over 2006, but only 0.5% of that growth was in the U.S. International sales were up 8.7%, accounting for the lion's share of growth. The company credits this to strong sales in Canada and China. Also, equity partners Grupo Modelo and Tsingtao did well for the quarter, boosting this class by 4.1% on modest volumes.

More troubling was the report that the company's market share dropped from 50.9% in 2006 to 50.2%. A price increase imposed in this quarter helped the company reach a consolidated net sales increase of 2.7%. For the quarter, the company reported net income of $518 million, up from $499 million a year ago.