Ivan Menezes

Sir
Ivan Menezes
Sir Ivan Menezes
	Menezes in 2014
Born	Ivan Manuel Menezes; 10 July 1959; Poona, Bombay State, India
Died	6 June 2023 (aged 63); London, England
Nationality	American; British;
Alma mater	St. Mary's High School, Mt. Abu; St. Stephen's College, Delhi; IIM Ahmedabad; Kellogg School of Management;
Title	CEO of Diageo
Term	2013–2023
Children	2
Father	Manuel Menezes
Relatives	Victor Menezes (brother); Tara Anne Fonseca (sister-in-law);

Sir Ivan Manuel Menezes (10 July 1959 – 6 June 2023) was an Indian-born British-American business executive. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Diageo, a FTSE 100 British multinational alcoholic beverages company, from 2013 until his death in 2023, succeeding Paul S. Walsh.^[1]

Early life

Menezes was born in Poona, India, on 10 July 1959, to Nina and Manuel Menezes.^[2]^[3] His mother, Nina, was a French language and music teacher, while his father, Manuel, was the chairman of the Indian Railway Board.^[4]^[5] The family was from Pomburpa village in Goa.^[6] His brother Victor Menezes was the former senior vice-chairman and CFO of Citibank.^[2]^[7]^[8]

Menezes completed his schooling from St. Mary's High School, Mt. Abu, where he graduated as a topper in the Indian school certificate examination. He went on to complete his bachelors in economics and mathematics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and followed it with a post-graduate degree from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. He later obtained an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Career

Menezes joined Diageo in 1997 and held various senior positions, including chief operating officer; chairman; Latin America & the Caribbean; chairman, Asia Pacific; president and CEO, Diageo North America; and chief operating officer, Diageo North America before becoming its global CEO.^[3]

Menezes joined Diageo from Guinness, when the company merged with Grand Metropolitan in 1997 to form Diageo.^[11] As the marketing head at Diageo, he is credited for developing the Keep Walking! marketing campaign for Johnnie Walker.^[12] As the CEO, he was credited for building the company to its current position owning over 200 brands in over 180 countries, including driving acquisitions of brands including Don Papa, a Philippine rum, Don Julio and Casamigos tequila brands.^[13] During his time as the CEO, the market value of the company grew from £42B to £75B.^[11] During this time, he led the company to sell most of its wines business and its low-margin mass-market beers and shift its focus toward premium brands like Guinness and spirits like Johnnie Walker.^[14]^[8]

Menezes was a non-executive director of the US-based fashion retailer Coach, Inc. and the chair of the Scotch Whisky Association.^[3]^[14]

Menezes was knighted in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to business and equality.^[15] During his tenure at Diageo, Menezes strove for diversifying its leadership, making more than 40% of Diageo's senior leadership positions held by women.^[16] He held dual UK and United States citizenship. He was also an overseas citizen of India.^[11]

Personal life

Menezes was married to Shibani Menezes, a journalist. The couple had met while studying at St. Stephen's College in Delhi.^[8]^[13] The couple had two children,^[3] Nikhil and Rohini.^[16] He was known to be a cricket and theatre lover.^[14]