Lawson Whiting has decided to call time on his seven-year tenure as CEO of Brown-Forman.
The executive, who has been with the Jack Daniel’s owner since 1997 – and as CEO since the start of 2019 – will retire “effective upon the appointment of a successor”. The announcement was made late yesterday (13 July), prompting the commencement of a replacement that will consider both internal and external candidates, Brown-Forman said.
Whiting joined the ‘corporate development team’ at Brown-Forman in 1997 after having spent four years at Chicago bank Northern Trust Corp. Four years later, he became director of investor relations and then held various roles across Brown-Forman, including stints in the group’s wine, global brands and regional finance teams. In 2017, he was promoted to COO, before taking over as CEO 15 months later.
Holding company Wolf Pen Branch, which represents a controlling interest in Brown-Forman, said in a statement last night: “We appreciate Lawson’s leadership and three decades of dedicated service to Brown-Forman. We are confident in the competitive position and financial strength of the business and in the board’s process underway to identify the next CEO to capitalise on growth opportunities for Brown-Forman.”
Whiting, who also serves on the board of directors for soft-drinks major Keurig Dr Pepper, added: “We are entering this transition from a position of strength. Brown-Forman has principled leadership, a foundation of iconic brands and a global team with immense depth and talent.
“I have every confidence that the succession process will surface the right leader for Brown-Forman’s next generation of growth, and I look forward to supporting a seamless handoff that ensures our momentum never wavers.”
The announcement comes less than three months after Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard called time on merger negotiations. At the time, the pair said they had “terminated discussions regarding a potential business combination, as the companies were unable to reach mutually agreeable terms”. Press speculation over negotiations between the pair began in March, followed by a confirmation that a possible “merger of equals” was the subject of their negotiations.
Last month, the group trumpeted a better-than-expected end to a flat fiscal 2026 as sales in the closing quarter – to the end of April – rose by 2% to US$912m. Combined with 1% lifts in both the first and third quarters, Brown-Forman was able to offset Q2’s 2% top-line decline, resulting in an in-line sales performance for the financial year compared to the corresponding 12 months to the end of April last year.
“We finished the fiscal year ahead of our expectations, driven by strong execution in our innovation portfolio, the early benefits of our US route-to-market transformation and strategic cost-restructuring initiatives,” Whiting said at the time. “Our ability to grow cash flows from operations … in a declining market speaks to the strength of our business.”
