Career
Goizueta returned to Cuba to work in his family's business in 1953. A year later, Goizueta replied to a help wanted newspaper ad for a job with the Coca-Cola bottler in Cuba. A short time later, he was promoted to chief technical director of five Cuban bottling plants.
Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba, transforming the island into a communist state. While on vacation in Miami, Goizueta and his family decided to defect to the United States. After defecting to the United States, he worked for The Coca-Cola Company in Miami. He was reassigned to Nassau, Bahamas as a chemist for the Caribbean region. In 1964, he was moved to the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia. At the age of 35, he became vice president of technical research and development. He remains the youngest person to hold this position at the company. In 1975, he was promoted to lead the legal and external affairs department.
He received an appointment in 1979, to become president of the Coca-Cola Company after the resignation of J. Lucian Smith, who was Coca-Cola's president from 1974 until 1979. In March 1981, he assumed the chairmanship after chairman J. Paul Austin (who was Coca-Cola's president from 1962 to 1971) retired. He remained at the helm of The Coca-Cola Company for 16 years until the time of his death, due to complications from lung cancer, in 1997. During his tenure, the Coca-Cola brand became the best-known trademark in the world. In 1982, he introduced Diet Coke, followed by Cherry Coke and the controversial New Coke, both in 1985; advertising slogans "Coke is it!", "You Can't Beat the Feeling" and "Always Coca-Cola". In 1982, Goizueta approved the purchase of Columbia Pictures, signaling Coca-Cola's intentions to branch out beyond the soft-drink business.[4]
Goizueta also sat on the boards of directors for various companies, including SunTrust Banks, the Ford Motor Company, Sonat Inc and the Eastman Kodak Company. He was well known for his business rivalry with fellow businessman Roger Enrico, CEO of PepsiCo, during his tenure as Coke's CEO.[5]
