After a brief illness, Sir Ivan Menezes, the former CEO of Diageo, the owner of Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff, passed away at age 63.
After declaring on Monday that he was having emergency surgery in the hospital, Diageo said that he passed away with his family by his side.
Ex-chief operating officer offer Earlier this week, Debra Crew was named interim chief executive with immediate effect.
When Sir Ivan was scheduled to retire on July 1, she was expected to take over as the company’s CEO.
During his 25-year tenure at the international corporation, Sir Ivan had served as chief executive for 10 years.
Javier Ferran, the chairman of Diageo, said: “This is an incredibly sad day. Ivan was undoubtedly one of the finest leaders of his generation.
“Ivan was there at the creation of Diageo and over 25 years, shaped Diageo to become one of the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer companies.
“Ivan leaves behind many friends and a beloved family, and our thoughts are particularly with his wife, Shibani and his two children, Nikhil and Rohini.
“On behalf of the board, executive committee and all our employees, we extend our deepest sympathies to them.”
