Coke’s CEO Muhtar Kent gets a deputy and possible successor
The Coca-Cola Company has promoted an insider to the number two job which got media pundits and analysts speculating that Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent needed a powerful deputy to help manage the far-flung business and try to reverse flagging soda sales.
On 13 August 2015 the company said it named the Englishman James Quincey, 50, President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr Quincey has been with Coke for 19 years.
According to insiders the board has been encouraging the 62-year-old Mr Kent to appoint a deputy for some time. Coke’s structure consisted of a CEO and numerous executive vice presidents reporting to him – but no official COO or clear number two.
Mr Kent has been Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola since 2008 and came under fire last year when shareholders, including Warren Buffett, called Coke’s pay plan for executives “excessive”. According to estimates by the Associated Press Mr Kent took home USD 18.1 million.
Mr Quincey joined Coke in 1996 and has held leadership positions in Latin America and Europe. He has been President of Coke’s Europe Group since 2013, overseeing 38 countries. Most recently he helped pull off the merger of Coke’s German bottling business with European bottlers Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. and Coca-Cola Iberian Partners.
In a call after the announcement, Mr Kent reportedly said that he will focus more on long-term strategy, talent management and innovation while Mr Quincey will focus on driving growth and productivity throughout the company.
Mr Kent added that “it’s very early days” and “inappropriate to speculate” on CEO succession but that he looks forward to working closely with Mr Quincey.
Coca-Cola has cited challenging economic conditions around the world for its sales struggles. In 2014 Coke’s volume sales, operating income and earnings per share fell short of its self-set growth targets. Admitting that the going has got tougher, Coke in October 2014 announced a USD 3 billion cost-cutting programme, including redundancies, which would allow it to redirect savings into marketing to boost sales. Earlier this year Mr Kent said that 2015 will be a “transition” year, with the company only returning to healthy growth in 2016.
