BrewDog co-founder James Watt is stepping down as chief executive of the Scottish craft beer giant after 17 years in the role.
In a 500-word LinkedIn post, Watt, who retains a 25% stake in the business, reminisced about the 17-year journey to grow BrewDog from a two-man-and-one-dog operation to a worldwide household name shipping over one billion cans of beer.
“After 17 fantastic years as CEO, I have decided to transition into a new role in the business, one of ‘Captain & Co-Founder’ – and James Arrow will pick up the reins as CEO as our business pushes forward into our next phase of growth,” he wrote.
Watt sidestepped the numerous controversies that have blighted his stint as head hipster beer honcho.
An open letter signed by more than 100 former employees in 2021 alleged a “culture of fear” at the company with workers saying they were bullied and “treated like objects”.
Watt apologised at the time and said “We are committed to doing better, not just as a reaction to this, but always; and we are going to reach out to our entire team past and present to learn more”.
Earlier this year, BrewDog was criticised by the Unite union for withdrawing the Real Living Wage guarantee.
Watt argued that keeping the guarantee would jeopardise “the long-term viability of our business” and used social media to shoot back at some of the claims against the company’s pay structure.
BrewDog has been hinting at an initial public offering for a year, but as of today there are no concrete plans in place.
Private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners acquired a 22% stake in BrewDog in 2017, giving the group an implied valuation of nearly £1 billion.
In May 2022, BrewDog said it was valued at £1.8 billion based on its most recent funding round.