At first glance my impression was climbing the corporate ladder has a bottle of booze waiting for you at the top, and maybe in some ways that is not so far off from the truth.

I think if drinking causes loss of control, this could be a blessing in some ways.
Realizing it causes loss of control for me means no drinking at all whatsoever, regardless of social implications. For pretty much all of us it creates impaired judgement, which is a form of loss of control, and can create decision making patterns that one may seriously regret later on upon further inspection of their decision(s) while only under the influence of even one or two drinks.

For someone who can handle their booze, they might find themselves addicted and live a long unhealthy life of staying hooked because it's easier than facing change, ultimately to face health problems as a result. Your story there made me think of this scenario, which I'm sure is common in that corporate ladder.

Aside from some light hearted fun social interactions from time to time, more negative comes from the experiences people have from drinking in the long run, it seems with many people.

If you're one of the few who can have a very rare occasional drink, then by all means enjoy it, but some probably, and dare I say most, just shouldn't touch it at all.