Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Co. has announced that John Murphy will become president and CFO, effective Oct. 1, following the retirement of Brian Smith.
Murphy, who serves as EVP and CFO, currently is responsible for leading the company’s global finance organization and representing the company with multiple stakeholders, including investors, lenders and rating agencies.
Smith will remain with the company as a senior executive through February. He has served as president and COO since 2019, following two years as president of the company’s former Europe, Middle East and Africa Group. He had responsibility for operations of six business units spanning from Western Europe to Russia to Southern Africa.
“Brian has made innumerable contributions to the Coca-Cola system during his 25 years with the company,” said James Quincey, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “I thank him for his service and, on behalf of the company, wish him all the best.”
Murphy has served as CFO since 2019. He oversees mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, global strategy, tax, treasury, audit, accounting and controls, reporting and analysis, real estate and risk management. As president and CFO, he will take on expanded duties, including oversight of global ventures; platform services; online-to-offline digital transformation; and customer and commercial leadership.
He began his career at Coca-Cola in 1988 as an international internal auditor and, in 1991, moved to Coca-Cola Japan as executive assistant to the CFO. He went on to serve in expanded responsibilities in various finance, planning and operations roles at Coca-Cola Japan and subsequently worked for the Coca-Cola bottling partner in Singapore, F&N Coca-Cola Ltd.
In 1996, Murphy returned to Coca-Cola as region manager in Indonesia. In 2000, he served as vice president of Business Systems in Coca-Cola North America before returning to Coca-Cola Japan as executive vice president and CFO. In 2004, he was promoted to deputy president of Coca-Cola Japan before returning to Atlanta in 2005 as VP of strategic planning for Coca-Cola, a position he held until he became president of the Latin Center business unit in 2008.
“John has been a vital business partner and leader at the company,” Quincey said. “As president and CFO, John’s new role will be instrumental in driving critical, enterprise-wide imperatives across the Coca-Cola system.”
The company is evaluating its future plans for the chief operating officer role. The company’s operating unit presidents will report to Quincey on an interim basis.
For more information, visit coca-colacompany.com.
