Who is Nik Jhangiani? Indian-origin executive takes over as Diageo’s interim CEO after Debra Crew’s exit

Guinness and Johnnie Walker whiskey manufacturer Diageo PLC said that the General Manager Debra team resigned after two years of distillation.

During the bruising run of the crew, the company’s shares fell by 43 percent at the closing of Tuesday. In June 2023, he worked as CEO.

On Wednesday, he appointed Nik Jhangiani, Chief Finance Director (CFO) as the CEO of the Mürettebat, the world’s largest spirit producer, and a search continued for Crew’s permanent backups.

After the announcement, Diageo shares rose up to 4.4 percent since April.

The term of office of the crew was ended with setbacks, including a decrease in sales due to cooling in China, USA, Mexico and Brazil.

In February, the company scrapeled the long -standing medium -term sales target, referring to the higher trade friction following President Donald Trump’s comprehensive tariffs for US trade partners.

After shaving more than 20 percent of the stock price in the last 12 months, Diageo is in the midst of a return plan targeting $ 500 million cost savings.

Who is Nik Jhangiani?

India Origin Nik Jhangiani was appointed finance manager at Diageo in September 2024.

After taking over the CFO, Jhangiani launched a review of his Diageo portfolio and announced a cost deduction of $ 500 million for three years, extending along the supply chain, advertising and promotions and operating model.

Before joining Diageo, he worked at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLC.

His career has been more than thirty years. He played several senior financial roles in the USA, Europe, India and Africa.

It is also known for controlling large capital markets activities, acquisitions and strategic transactions.

Rutgers Business School graduated from Newark, New Jersey and is a certified public accountant in the state of New York.

He started his career in Deloitte and continued to take financial roles in Bristol Myers Squibb and Colgate-Palmolive, where Nigeria is the Group Finance Director of Nigeria.