Diageo PLC (LSE:DGE) has announced the death of chief executive Sir Ivan Menezes aged 63 after a brief illness.
Javier Ferrán, the drinks group’s chairman, said: "This is an incredibly sad day. Ivan was undoubtedly one of the finest leaders of his generation.
“Ivan's energy and his commitment to diversity created a truly inclusive business and enabled Diageo to have a positive impact on the communities we serve.
“His passion for our brands was second-to-none and in his heart, he remained the Johnnie Walker marketer from his early days.”
Menezes, who had been set to retire on 1 July, was one of the longest-serving FTSE 100 company chief executives.
Guinness’s strategy director when it merged with Grand Metropolitan in 1997 to form Diageo, Menezes was in charge of overseeing the integration of the two businesses.
Subsequently, he held several senior positions before becoming an executive director in 2012 and chief executive in July 2013.
Originally best known for Guinness and Johnnie Walker whisky, Diageo is now the number one company by net sales value in Scotch, vodka, gin, rum, Canadian whisky, liqueurs, and also tequila, a drink where it had no substantive position eight years ago.
“Ivan was particularly proud to announce in December 2022, that Guinness was ranked the number one selling beer by value for the first time in the on-trade in Great Britain,” Diageo added.
Menezes also helped increase the number of women on the company’s executive committee from zero in 2008 to 50% with currently 40% of leadership positions now held by women and a target for 45% to be ethnically diverse by 2025.
In January 2023, Menezes was awarded a Knighthood for services to Business and to Equality in The King's 2023 New Year Honours List.
Earlier this week, Diageo announced Debra Crew had taken over as interim chief executive as Menezes was due for surgery.
Crew had been due to become CEO on July 1 when Menezes retired.