Diageo announces retirement of chief executive
Ivan Menezes was appointed chief executive of the drinks company in 2013.
Guinness owner Diageo has announced its chief executive Ivan Menezes is to retire after a decade in charge of the drinks giant and will be replaced by the company’s chief operating officer Debra Crew in July.
Mr Menezes joined the company following the merger of Guinness and Metropolitan plc in 1997 and during that time held a number of other roles including president of Diageo North American, Diageo Asia Pacific; and chairman of Diageo Latin America and Caribbean.
He has worked as chief executive of the company since July 2013.
Diageo chairman Javier Ferrán said that the board was “enormously grateful” for Mr Menezes's contribution over the years with the company, having “consistently delivered a truly impressive performance” under his tenure.
On the appointment of Ms Crews, Mr Ferrán said she has “deep consumer industry expertise” and he has no doubt the company is in the “right hands”.
Prior to becoming chief operating officer, Ms Crew served as the president of Diageo North America and Global Supply. She is the former president of tobacco company Reynolds American as well as a former high-ranking executive within several food companies such as PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, Nestle, and Mars Inc.
Ms Crews will become one of only a handful of women to lead a FTSE 100 listed company.
She will earn $1.75m (€1.61m) when she takes up the position as well as pension contributions equal to 14% of her base salary. She will also be entitled to bonuses.
Aside from Guinness, brands that Diageo also own include Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, and Captain Morgan.
