Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley Plans to Step Down
On Thursday, Molson Coors Beverage Company — the parent organization behind household name beer brands like Coors Banquet, Miller High Life, and Blue Moon — announced that president and CEO Gavin Hattersley plans to retire by the end of 2025. The move will mark the end of Hattersley’s 28-year-long career in the beverage industry and his six-year tenure as Molson Coors’ president and CEO.
“Gavin has been a steady hand at the wheel as CEO, navigating through incredible challenges that no one could ever have predicted while guiding our company to growth, strengthening our foundation, and setting us up for an even brighter future to come,” board chair Geoff Molson said in a press release. “Our business today stands on the shoulders of the many generations of the Molson and Coors families who have come before us. Gavin has lived up to their rich legacy, and he will retire having left an indelible mark on our business and the global beer industry.”
Since beginning his journey in the beer industry with South African Breweries (SAB) in 1997, Hattersley held various leadership roles at SABMiller, MillerCoors, and Molson Coors through multiple acquisitions and mergers. The company states that he played a crucial role in the creation of the MillerCoors U.S. joint venture in 2008, serving as the business unit’s first CFO before assuming the title of CEO in 2015. In September 2019, Hattersley took over as president and CEO of parent company Molson Coors, replacing former CEO Mark Hunter, shortly before corporate restructuring led to the demise of the MillerCoors brand name.
In the six years under Hattersley’s leadership, Molson Coors delivered its two highest years of annual net sales revenue as well as underlying income before income taxes. Additionally, the company has managed to reduce its net debt by nearly 40 percent since Hattersley took on the role. Molson Coors credits Hattersley as a pivotal player in turning the company from a beer conglomerate into a total beverage company, noting achievements such as the premiumization of Molson Coors’ global portfolio, forming partnerships with D.G. Yuengling and Sons and the Coca-Cola Company, and obtaining the U.S. commercialization rights to Fever-Tree.
“We have accomplished so much over the past six years and one thing I’m certain of is that none of it would have been possible without each of the 16,000 people across our business,” Hattersley said in a message to Molson Coors employees. “Whether you are on the leadership team or are just getting started in your career here, whether you work in the field, in our offices or in a brewery, whether you are in our largest market or our smallest, you are responsible for our success and you are leading Molson Coors to a brighter future.”
The beverage conglomerate’s governance committee is launching a search for the next CEO, and will be considering both internal and external candidates. The company board claims that it hopes to find a replacement that will continue to bolster Molson Coors’ core brands, premiumize its portfolio, set prospects beyond beer, and build upon the success of Hattersley’s revitalization and acceleration plans.
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