A finance veteran with over 30 years in top positions across continents, Indian-origin business leader Nik Jhangiani has taken over as the interim chief executive officer (CEO) of the world's biggest liquor company, Diageo.
At the British multinational, where he has been the chief financial officer (CFO) since last year, he succeeds Debra Crew in the CEO's position which she has stepped down from after two years, the company said on Wednesday.
Diageo is best known to consumers as the company that makes Johnnie Walker whiskey and Guinness beer. It has struggled over the past 12 months and is now targeting $500 million in cost savings, Reuters has reported. Its share price has dropped 20% in the last 12 months.
Also read | India plans tougher ad curbs on liquor makers such as Carlsberg, Diageo, Pernod
Nik Jhangiani, who worked as Group CFO for Bharti Enterprises in India at one time, later spent 12 years at Coca-Cola before moving to Diageo in the September of 2024, his LinkedIn profile shows.
{{/usCountry}}Nik Jhangiani, who worked as Group CFO for Bharti Enterprises in India at one time, later spent 12 years at Coca-Cola before moving to Diageo in the September of 2024, his LinkedIn profile shows.
{{/usCountry}}A 1988 graduate of Rutgers Business School, Newark, New Jersey, he is a certified public accountant in the state of New York, Reuters said.
He has held senior finance leadership roles across the US, Europe, India and Africa.
Jhangiani has so far charmed investors with his cool confidence and clear communication, in contrast to his predecessor who struggled to win over the company's shareholders during her short term, said a Bloomberg report.
Four investors, including one of the top 20 shareholders, told Reuters that Jhangiani would make a solid permanent CEO. Still, some of those shareholders cautioned, whoever takes the job permanently must cut Diageo's debt and revive growth at a time when consumers' wallets are stretched and the sector faces import tariff hikes in the US, its biggest market.
Competition from alcohol alternatives like cannabis drinks is rising too as legalisation widens.