Biography: Neville Isdell

Episode 501:
BRAND NEW DAY:
Putting the Pizzazz Back Into Xerox and Coke

Featured Guest:
Neville Isdell
Chairman & CEO, The Coca-Cola Company

Mr. Isdell's Video Clip


Neville Isdell was elected chairman, Board of Directors, and chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Company on June 1, 2004. Mr. Isdell is the 12th chairman of the Board in the history of the Company.

A native of Ireland, Mr. Isdell joined The Coca-Cola Company in 1966 with the local bottling company in Zambia. In 1972 he became general manager of Coca-Cola Bottling of Johannesburg, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Africa. Mr. Isdell was named region manager for Australia in 1980, and in 1981 he became president of the bottling joint venture between The Coca-Cola Company and San Miguel Corporation in the Philippines, where he oversaw the turnaround and renewal of the Coca-Cola business in that key country.

Mr. Isdell moved to Germany as president of the Company's Central European Division in 1985. In 1989 he was elected senior vice president of the Company and appointed president of the Northeast Europe/Africa Group (renamed the Northeast Europe/Middle East Group in 1992) and led the Company's entry into new markets in India, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In 1995 he was named president of the Greater Europe Group.

From July 1998 to September 2000, Mr. Isdell served as chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages Plc in Great Britain, where he oversaw that company's merger with Hellenic Bottling to form the world's second largest Coca-Cola bottler, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (HBC). He retired as vice chairman of Coca-Cola HBC in December 2001. From January 2002 to May 2004, Mr. Isdell was an international consultant to The Coca-Cola Company and headed his own investment company in Barbados.

Mr. Isdell is chairman of the U.S.-Russia Business Council and a member of the board of trustees of the International Business Leaders Forum, the United States Council for International Business and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also a member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS. In Atlanta, Mr. Isdell serves on the board of directors of SunTrust Banks, Inc. and the Commerce Club and as a trustee of Emory University. He is a lifetime trustee of Pace Academy.

Mr. Isdell received a bachelor's degree in social sciences from the University of Cape Town and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development.