Muhtar Kent

, Former CEO, Coca-Cola Company, USA

Muhtar Kent is the former Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.

Muhtar Kent was named Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2009 and served as Chairman and CEO through April 2017. He retired from his position as Chairman of the Board on April 30, 2019.

Mr. Kent joined The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta in 1978, holding a variety of marketing and operations leadership positions over the course of his career. In 1985, he became General Manager of Coca-Cola Turkey and Central Asia, he served as President of the Company’s East Central Europe Division and Senior Vice President of Coca-Cola International, with responsibility for 23 countries.

In 1995, Mr. Kent was named Managing Director of Coca-Cola Amatil-Europe, In 1999, he became President and CEO of the Efes Beverage Group and in 2005  he returned to The Coca-Cola Company  as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company’s North Asia, Eurasia and Middle East Group, an organization that included China, Japan and Russia. Less than a year later, he became President of Coca-Cola International, leading all of the Company’s operations outside North America.
Mr. Kent is a world class business leader, well-known also for his concern about the responsibility for a better world. He is active in the global business community and is the past Chairman of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum and a member of its Chairman’s Community, a member of the Concordia Leadership Council, the Council on Foreign Relations, and Chairman Emeritus of the U.S. ASEAN Business Council.  He serves on the boards of 3M, Special Olympics International, Catalyst, Cambridge China Development Trust and Emory University.  In 2019, je has founded the Kent Global Leadership Program on Conflict Resolution at Columbia University.