Diageo CEO’s exit loses a female CEO from FTSE 100

Crew took over the spirits company, part of Britain’s FTSE 100, in 2023. She was one of fewer than 10 female CEOs among FTSE 100 companies and No. 96 on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list this year.

But Diageo, the maker of Johnnie Walker and Guinness, has struggled mightily during her tenure. Its shares are down 43% since she took the helm. Some of that fall was outside her control; it’s a “difficult time to be a spirits CEO” a Jefferies analyst wrote, per Bloomberg.

During her tenure, Crew mainly continued a strategy her predecessor Ivan Menezes set—encouraging customers to buy more expensive products. In a tough market for consumer spending—plus tariffs, changing drinking habits among young people, and a massive slowdown after the at-home drinking highs of the pandemic—that was a risk.

Crew was only in her role for two years; she came in initially from a board role and served as president of North America and COO before CEO. Yesterday, she left by “mutual agreement.” She didn’t have much of a chance to turn the business around. It’s a time of change in the business world—let’s hope more change doesn’t mean booting the female CEOs left standing.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

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PARTING WORDS

“I grew up with parents who loved storytelling and loved books, but they both understood in their way that they could expand our worlds, even if they couldn’t afford to give us the world.” 

— Political strategist and former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on how her parents nurtured her love of writing