India-born, British-American Ivan Manuel Menezes, who led the acquisition of United Spirits as Diageo’s top executive Vijay Mallya, died on Wednesday. He was 63 years old.
Menezes, who became CEO of the world’s largest spirits company in July 2013, died days after being hospitalized for an emergency surgery for multiple medical conditions, including stomach ulcers, which led to complications. Menezes was due to retire at the end of this month from the London-listed multinational – maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, Tanqueray gin and Don Julio tequila.
“It is an incredibly sad day. Ivan was undoubtedly one of the finest leaders of his generation,” said Javier Ferran, chairman of Diageo. Born in Pune and educated at St Stephen’s College in Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, Menezes joined Diageo in 1997, following its creation through a merger with Guinness, owner of Johnnie Walker Scotch, and Grand Metropolitan, maker of J&B whisky. From. His brother Víctor Menezes is the former chairman and CEO of Citibank, and father Manuel Menezes was chairman of the Railway Board.
senior advocate Coronation Manu Singhvi, who studied with Menezes in Delhi, mourned his death. “Shocked and shocked to hear of the passing of Ivan Menezes, my classmate at Columbus and Stephens. A more humble, laid back and easy going soul would be hard to find. I used to joke with him how with these qualities he could manage a multinational company like Diageo. Can lead, which he did so ably,” Singhvi tweeted.
Had it not been for Menezes’ “quiet determination”, Diageo would have found it difficult to buy India’s largest liquor company United Spirits from Mallya. Diageo had pursued Mallya several times for a deal (before the two joined hands in 2013) but the latter refused to hand over control of United Spirits. A wine industry veteran said, “Menezes may be soft but he was a determined man.” “Diageo has usurped Mallya’s legacy from United Spirits,” he said. “It has also restructured the Indian subsidiary and made it more dynamic by removing commodity brands from its portfolio. ,
Former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, Arvind Subramanian, said, “Ivan was rare in combining extraordinary corporate success without arrogance or vanity, and combining traditional achievement with being a devoted family man, and caring and caring for friends and acquaintances.” was generous.” Reuters. Subramaniam and Menezes were contemporaries at IIM-Ahmedabad.
Nimesh Kampani, chairman, JM Financial Group, said: “Ivan Menezes was a nice man, very straight forward. I was in regular touch with him during the acquisition of United Spirits by Diageo. He was humble and down to earth. He was a people-pleaser.” Individuals who were on board with everyone in the organization.”
Menezes also made efforts to do the right thing. “Leaders today talk about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) because it is necessary. Ivan Menezes has been implementing it for years because he wanted to,” a former Diageo executive who worked with Menezes he said.
Today, more than half of Diageo’s 15-member executive committee are women, including Menezes’ successor as CFO and president of the company’s biggest markets – North America, Europe and India. In 2013, when Menezes took over, Diageo had just two women on its executive committee.
The company announced Debra Crews as interim CEO a few weeks before Menezes’s planned retirement in late June. Menezes was one of the longest serving FTSE CEOs in the UK. Diageo’s market capitalization nearly doubled from £42 billion to £75 billion under Menezes, who was behind the ‘keep walking’ campaign for Johnnie Walker when he was marketing head.
“His passion for our brands was second to none and in his heart, he remains a Johnnie Walker marketer from his early days. The desire to create the world’s best brands has never left him, ”said Ferran.
Menezes, who became CEO of the world’s largest spirits company in July 2013, died days after being hospitalized for an emergency surgery for multiple medical conditions, including stomach ulcers, which led to complications. Menezes was due to retire at the end of this month from the London-listed multinational – maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, Tanqueray gin and Don Julio tequila.
“It is an incredibly sad day. Ivan was undoubtedly one of the finest leaders of his generation,” said Javier Ferran, chairman of Diageo. Born in Pune and educated at St Stephen’s College in Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, Menezes joined Diageo in 1997, following its creation through a merger with Guinness, owner of Johnnie Walker Scotch, and Grand Metropolitan, maker of J&B whisky. From. His brother Víctor Menezes is the former chairman and CEO of Citibank, and father Manuel Menezes was chairman of the Railway Board.
senior advocate Coronation Manu Singhvi, who studied with Menezes in Delhi, mourned his death. “Shocked and shocked to hear of the passing of Ivan Menezes, my classmate at Columbus and Stephens. A more humble, laid back and easy going soul would be hard to find. I used to joke with him how with these qualities he could manage a multinational company like Diageo. Can lead, which he did so ably,” Singhvi tweeted.
Had it not been for Menezes’ “quiet determination”, Diageo would have found it difficult to buy India’s largest liquor company United Spirits from Mallya. Diageo had pursued Mallya several times for a deal (before the two joined hands in 2013) but the latter refused to hand over control of United Spirits. A wine industry veteran said, “Menezes may be soft but he was a determined man.” “Diageo has usurped Mallya’s legacy from United Spirits,” he said. “It has also restructured the Indian subsidiary and made it more dynamic by removing commodity brands from its portfolio. ,
Former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, Arvind Subramanian, said, “Ivan was rare in combining extraordinary corporate success without arrogance or vanity, and combining traditional achievement with being a devoted family man, and caring and caring for friends and acquaintances.” was generous.” Reuters. Subramaniam and Menezes were contemporaries at IIM-Ahmedabad.
Nimesh Kampani, chairman, JM Financial Group, said: “Ivan Menezes was a nice man, very straight forward. I was in regular touch with him during the acquisition of United Spirits by Diageo. He was humble and down to earth. He was a people-pleaser.” Individuals who were on board with everyone in the organization.”
Menezes also made efforts to do the right thing. “Leaders today talk about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) because it is necessary. Ivan Menezes has been implementing it for years because he wanted to,” a former Diageo executive who worked with Menezes he said.
Today, more than half of Diageo’s 15-member executive committee are women, including Menezes’ successor as CFO and president of the company’s biggest markets – North America, Europe and India. In 2013, when Menezes took over, Diageo had just two women on its executive committee.
The company announced Debra Crews as interim CEO a few weeks before Menezes’s planned retirement in late June. Menezes was one of the longest serving FTSE CEOs in the UK. Diageo’s market capitalization nearly doubled from £42 billion to £75 billion under Menezes, who was behind the ‘keep walking’ campaign for Johnnie Walker when he was marketing head.
“His passion for our brands was second to none and in his heart, he remains a Johnnie Walker marketer from his early days. The desire to create the world’s best brands has never left him, ”said Ferran.