Diageo appoints former Tesco boss Dave Lewis as new CEO

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Ultima_Gaina

Diageo (DEO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DEO]) appointed Dave Lewis, the former head of supermarket chain Tesco Plc (OTCPK:TSCDF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TSCDF]), to the role of CEO and executive director, effective on January 1, 2026.

Dave served as Group CEO of Tesco from 2014 to 2020, where he transformed the business, and, before this, spent nearly three decades at Unilever (UL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UL]), latterly in Executive Committee roles.

Additionally, Dave has been the Chair of Haleon (HLN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HLN]) since its creation in 2022 and is a non-executive board director of PepsiCo (PEP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PEP]). Dave will be stepping down from the Haleon role on December 31, 2025.

Nik Jhangiani will continue as interim CEO of Diageo (DEO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DEO]) until the end of December 2025 and then resume his CFO role thereafter.

Deirdre Mahlan, having returned to Diageo as interim CFO, will continue to support Diageo through the transition.

The_ Financial Times_ earlier this month reported that Diageo (DEO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DEO]) considered a multitude of internal and external candidates, including Emma Walmsley, outgoing CEO of GSK (GSK [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GSK]), for the company’s leadership role.

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