James Quincey

Joining Coca-Cola

After working with Bain & Co and a smaller consultancy, he joined Coca-Cola in 1996. With Coke, he has lived in Latin America[5] and worked in Mexico, where he led the acquisition of Jugos del Valle. In 2015, Quincey became the president of Coca-Cola.[6][7] He outlined a plan to have five category clusters for brands in the company.[8] He also changed management and the entire Coke hierarchy.[9]

Chairman and CEO

He was named CEO in December 2016.[10][11][12][13] He became CEO the following May when Muhtar Kent retired. Among his first acts as CEO, he announced reducing 1,200 corporate positions as part of a plan to invest in new products and marketing and restore the year's revenue and profit growth from four to six percent.[14] Quincey also said in interviews that he wanted to rid the Coke company's culture of over-cautiousness concerning risk,[15] and that he intended to further diversify Coke's portfolio by accelerating investments in startup businesses.[16] He later launched a plan to recycle a bottle for every bottle sold by 2030.[17] On 24 April 2019, Quincey was elected chairman of the board.[18] In December 2021 Quincey announced the planned discontinuation of many of its slower selling products, such as Tab and Zico coconut water.[19]

In 2023, Quincey's total compensation from Coca-Cola was $24.7 million, or 1,799 times the median employee pay at Coca-Cola for that year.[20]

In 2025, Quincey gifted President Donald Trump with the Coca-Cola company's first custom Diet Coke bottle to honor his inauguration.[21][22]

On 10 December 2025, it was announced that Quincey will step down as chief executive officer and will be succeeded by chief operating officer Henrique Braun, effective 31 March 2026. Quincey will then transition to the role of executive chairman.[23]