Coke global operations executive elevated to COO
Coca-Cola Co. said Thursday that it had promoted its president of international operations, Muhtar Kent, to chief operating officer effective immediately, making him a leading candidate to succeed Chief Executive E. Neville Isdell.
Kent, 54, who first joined Coke in Atlanta in 1978, was most recently COO of its North Asia, Eurasia and Middle East Group.
Coke has not had a COO since 2004. The position makes Kent responsible for all the beverage company’s operating units worldwide.
Although the Atlanta-based company said it was inappropriate to speculate on anything beyond executives’ current positions, industry observers say the promotion makes Kent the most likely successor for the 63-year-old Isdell.
“He’s a superb and seasoned beverage executive who has great understanding of the company and the bottling system,” said John Sicher, publisher of industry newsletter Beverage Digest. “He’s the leading candidate to succeed Neville someday, but it’s not a slam-dunk. He still needs to prove himself over the next few years.”
Stifel Nicolaus analyst Mark Swartzberg said in a research note that Kent was a logical choice given his current role and Coke system experience.
The Turkish native’s promotion comes despite an incident 10 years ago that cost him his job as managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil-Europe, part of a regional bottler based in Sydney, Australia. Kent’s financial advisor sold short 100,000 shares of Amatil on Kent’s behalf hours before the company issued a profit warning in November 1996.
Short sellers typically borrow shares and sell them, betting the price will fall, so that they will be able to buy back the shares to repay the lender at a lower price.
Kent stepped down amid an investigation by Australian securities regulators.
In a statement, Isdell said: “This matter was thoroughly investigated and conclusively resolved by [Australian regulators] a decade ago and widely reported on in many publications at that time, and since. The board and I, guided by outside counsel, carefully reviewed the matter and we are satisfied that it was the result of an honest mistake.”
Kent is a longtime protege of Isdell, who was brought out of retirement to lead the company in 2004 after the unexpected departure of Douglas Daft.
The company’s shares rose 34 cents to $48.72.
