LONDON (Reuters) - Diageo (LON:DGE) said on Tuesday Chief Operating Officer (COO) Debra Crew will take over as Chief Executive Officer when Ivan Menezes retires after nearly a decade at the helm of the world's largest spirits maker.
She will become one of a few women to lead a FTSE 100 company.
Here's what we know about the new CEO:
* She was appointed Diageo COO in October.
* She was previously President, Diageo North America, appointed in July 2020 to oversee the company's largest market. She was also president Global Supply.
* She joined the Diageo board as a non-executive director in April 2019
* Before that, she was President and CEO of tobacco company Reynolds American Inc (NYSE:RAI), which was bought by British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) in 2017. While there, she was President and COO and President and Chief Commercial Officer.
* She spent five years at PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) where she was President, North America Nutrition; President, PepsiCo Americas Beverages and President, Western Europe Region.
* Before that, she worked at Kraft Foods (NASDAQ:KHC), Nestle and Mars Inc.
* She graduated from the University of Denver and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
* She was also previously an officer in the U.S. Army
* She currently serves on the board of Stanley Black & Decker Inc (NYSE:SWK), having previously been on the boards of Newell Brands and Mondelez (NASDAQ:MDLZ) International.
SOURCE: company statement