Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff maker Diageo has endured a rocky ride during boss Ivan Menezes’ four-year tenure.
When he took the reins from Paul Walsh, its mainstay North American business was on the verge of a nasty downturn. US drinkers had lost their thirst for Scotch whisky — of which Diageo is the world’s largest purveyor — and for the company’s vodka brands. Hipsters there were turning instead to locally produced bourbons from independent distillers, exposing a glaring weakness in Diageo’s portfolio.
As if that were not bad enough, Indian-born Menezes had to grapple with a slowdown in some of the emerging markets that the Guinness owner had put at the heart of its expansion plans. The company had hoped to reap larger profits from