Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent to Step Down Next Year

Dec. 9, 2016
Coca-Cola Co.'s CEO Muhtar Kent will be succeeded by COO James Quincey, effective May 1, 2017.

After several stormy years in the beverage business, Coca-Cola Co. announced the expected news that CEO Muhtar Kent will be succeeded by COO James Quincey, effective May 1, 2017. The word comes amid several senior leadership changes the company announced today (Dec 9). Kent, who turns 65 next year, will remain board chairman.

A 20-year veteran, Quincey will stand for nomination to be elected by the board as a director at its 2017 annual shareowners meeting in April 2017. Experts expected the $178-billion company was grooming Quincey for an eventual CEO position when the company appointed the him president and COO in August 2015.

"This transition comes at a time of important evolution for the Coca-Cola company," Kent said in a statement. According to the Wall Street Journal, Coca-Cola has missed its growth targets for past three years as consumers cut back on cola and sodas in general. Although Coca-Cola has diversified into juices, bottled waters and other beverages, soda still represents about 70 percent of its sales. Coke’s annual sales have declined slightly for the past two calendar years, and in the first nine months of this year revenues lagged 5 percent.

After more than a year in his leadership role, Quincey will need to forge a path forward for the soda giant in the wake of consumers' changing beverage preferences. Coke said Quincey has been involved with recent moves aimed to fit these trends, including selling soda in 7.5-oz. "mini cans" and reducing added sugar across the company’s portfolio.

According to WSJ reports, Coke has posted solid results in the U.S. lately as it increases prices and downsizes packaging, charging consumers more per ounce. But growth has stalled or reversed in many emerging markets including Russia, China and Brazil.

Sponsored Recommendations

Revolutionizing Healthcare: The Impact of Digitalization in Biopharma Innovation

Biopharma enables an entirely new level of innovation that’s simply not possible in conventional drug development. It’s an approach that can fundamentally change the way healthcare...

Navigating the Automotive Industry's Electric Future

The automotive industry is at a turning point. Bloomberg estimates that by 2040, 54% of new vehicle sales will be electric. And by 2030, we’re looking at 100% of passenger vehicles...

Unified Process Control Brings Operational Clarity

Inland Empire Utilities Agency replaces its SCADA enterprise system with the PlantPAx Distributed Control System and reduces complexity for operators

PlantPAx DCS Improves Operational Reliability

KC Water calls on R.E. Pedrotti to replace obsolete wastewater SCADA solution with a unified Modern Distributed Control System (DCS).