Coca-Cola Company said Friday that Chief Operating Officer James Quincey will take over as the company’s chief executive on May 1.
Quincey will replace Muhtar Kent, who has been CEO for the past eight years, the company said. Quincey was named COO of the company in August 2015. Earlier this year he implemented a new international operating structure and leadership team to “make the company more efficient and effective at local levels,” the company said in a statement on Friday.
Prior to take the role of COO, he served as president of Coca Cola’s Europe group, which was the company’s most profitable division under his leadership. He was president of the Northwest Europe and Nordics business unit from 2008 to 2012 and president of the Mexico division from 2005 to 2008. He started at Coca-Cola Co. in 1996, the company said.
Coca-Cola said on Thursday that Howard G. Buffett will not stand for re-election to the board at the company’s board meeting in April. Buffett will retire from the board to focus more time on his work as chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which focuses on advancing sustainable agricultural practices and conflict mitigation throughout the world, the company said.