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Debra Crew
Crew in 2022
Born (1970-12-20) December 20, 1970 (age 53)
Honolulu, Hawaii, US
Alma materUniversity of Denver (BA)
University of Chicago Booth School of Business (MBA)
Occupation(s)President and CEO of Diageo
Term2018–present

Debra Ann Crew (born December 20, 1970)[1][2] is the president and CEO of Diageo.[3] She is also a board member of Mondelez International, and the former president and chief executive officer of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.[4] She previously held senior management positions at PepsiCo, Mars, Incorporated, and Dreyer's.[5][6]

Education and military service

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Crew earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Denver, and her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.[2]

She served in the United States Army from 1993 to 1997 in the field of military intelligence, achieving the rank of captain.[5]

Business career

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Crew began her business career at Kraft Foods in 1997, where she filled a number of management positions. After seven years at Kraft, she moved to Dreyer's, a subsidiary of Nestlé, where she worked from 2004 to 2008, rising to Senior Vice President of Marketing, Frozen Snacks. From 2008 to 2010 she was the General Manager and chief marketing officer of Petcare US, at Mars, Incorporated.[5]

Crew joined PepsiCo in April 2010 as president, Western European Region,[5] headquartered in Geneva.[7] In August 2012 she was named to the newly created position of President of Pepsico Americas Beverages, which incorporated responsibility for the North American operations of the Gatorade and Tropicana brands, the Latin America Beverages operation, the North America warehouse sales operation, and the Beverage Growth Ventures Group.[7] In August 2014 she was named president and General Manager of PepsiCo North America Nutrition.[5]

In October 2014 Crew departed PepsiCo to become president and Chief Commercial Officer of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.[6] She had been a director of the company since December 2013.[5] The switch from the food to cigarette industry surprised observers,[8] as well as the timing, since she had headed PepsiCo's North America Nutrition for only two months.[2] In September 2015 her title changed to president and COO.[9] As COO she oversaw $8.6 billion of the company's estimated $10.7 billion in post-merger sales.[8]

On January 1, 2017 Crew became the CEO of Reynolds American, taking over from former CEO Susan Cameron.[10] She is one of the few women CEOs of a major American tobacco company.[11]

In April 2019, Crew was appointed a non-executive director to Diageo's board. In July 2020, she replaced Deirdre Mahlan as president of Diageo North America.[3]

On July 1, 2023 Crew was appointed CEO of Diageo,[12][13] it is the first time in the company's history to appoint a female CEO.[14]

Memberships

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In 2013, Crew was named to the board of directors of Stanley Black & Decker.[15]

Honors and recognition

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She was named to the Fortune list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2014 and 2015. Crew has been named four times to Fortune magazine's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business, ranking No. 44 in 2014,[16] No. 46 in 2015, No. 47 in 2016 and No. 34 in 2017.[8]

In 2023, she ranked 79th in the Forbes list of "World's 100 most powerful women"[17] and 65th on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Stanley Black & Decker Reports Acquisition by Director Crew (Connecticut". US Fed News Service. 24 September 2015. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Debra Crew". CNBC. 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Diageo names Debra Crew as North American president". Food Dive. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  4. ^ "Reynolds American". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2017-07-09. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Debra A. Crew, Independent Director". Morningstar, Inc. 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  6. ^ a b Sutter, Mark (19 September 2014). "R.J. Reynolds Tobacco names Debra A. Crew as its president". Triad Business Journal. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  7. ^ a b Zmuda, Natalie (16 August 2012). "PepsiCo Taps Debra Crew for New President-Americas Beverages Role". Advertising Age. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "Debra Crew, 45". Fortune. 2016. Archived from the original on 4 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  9. ^ Covington, Owen (14 September 2015). "R.J. Reynolds Tobacco's Debra Crew adding COO to title". Triad Business Journal. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  10. ^ Arcieri, Katie (20 October 2016). "Meet Debra Crew, soon to be Reynolds American's CEO". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
  11. ^ Yuk, Pan Kwan (19 October 2016). "Reynolds American names Debra Crew as new CEO". Financial Times. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
  12. ^ "Sir Ivan Menezes to retire from Diageo; Debra Crew to be appointed Chief Executive Officer". www.diageo.com. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  13. ^ Shah, Oliver (2024-06-16). "I worked in military intelligence — now I'm determined to fix Diageo's problems". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  14. ^ Vardon, Elena; Susin, Michael (2023-03-28). "Guinness Maker Diageo Appoints Its First Female CEO". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  15. ^ Migoya, David (12 June 2013). "DU alum Debra Crew named to Black & Decker board". The Denver Post. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  16. ^ Fairchild, Caroline; Kowitt, Beth; Leahey, Colleen; VanderMey, Anne (2014). "The Most Powerful Women in Business". Fortune. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  17. ^ "The World's Most Powerful Women 2023". Forbes.
  18. ^ "Most Powerful Women". Fortune.
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