Dave Lewis Diageo CEO Named
Dave Lewis Diageo CEO will start Jan. 1, 2026 and investors will focus on brand strategy and the $500 million cost program for trading signals.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Board appointed Sir Dave Lewis as CEO effective Jan. 1, 2026.
- Lewis chosen for brand-building and marketing expertise to steady the drinks group.
- He inherits weaker sales and an ongoing $500 million cost-cutting program.
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Diageo plc appointed Sir Dave Lewis as chief executive and executive director on Nov. 10, 2025, naming him CEO effective Jan. 1, 2026, as the drinks group faces weaker sales and an ongoing cost-cutting program.
Lewis will succeed interim CEO Nik Jhangiani, who will return to his role as chief financial officer when Lewis assumes the post. The leadership change follows Debra Crew’s abrupt resignation in July 2025 after less than two years in the role; Crew had taken over after Ivan Menezes died in June 2023.
The board cited Lewis’s experience in brand building and marketing as central to steadying the group amid commercial challenges. Lewis led Tesco from 2014 to 2020 and spent nearly 30 years at Unilever in senior marketing and business roles, a background the board highlighted as relevant to the task ahead.
Lewis’s compensation package includes an annual salary of £1.5 million, a £210,000 pension allowance, and performance-based bonuses. He will resign as chairman of Haleon at the end of December 2025 before taking up the Diageo role.
Lewis Named Diageo CEO Amid Market Challenges
Diageo faces several operational headwinds, reporting its first annual sales decline in four years for fiscal 2023–24, driven mainly by weaker performance in Latin America. The company has also noted softer demand in China and the U.S., contributing to a declining share price.
The $500 million cost-cutting plan launched under Crew remains in place. Management has previously flagged a roughly $150 million annual tariff impact it has been addressing. No new financial guidance accompanied Lewis’s appointment.
The board selected Lewis for his brand-building and marketing expertise to help navigate softer consumer demand alongside the active efficiency program. Management has indicated that the existing cost measures remain central to near-term strategy while working to stabilize sales.
