In a surprise announcement, the CEO and chairman of Coca-Cola Co. Doug Daft will retire at the end of the year.
The announcement, made last Thursday, caps a year of layoffs, management changes, allegations raised about marketing fraud in a whistleblower lawsuit and an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The 60-year-old Daft told the board when hired in 1999 that he would take the position for five years.
The decision to retire “is consistent with my own personal wishes that I previously shared with the board,” Daft said in a statement.
The board plans to engage a search firm to find a replacement, looking both internally and externally, the company said.
Steve Heyer, Coca-Cola’s 51-year-old president and COO, is considered a strong internal candidate to replace Daft.
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