Neville Isdell

Neville Isdell is the former chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, where he spent 43 years shaping the growth and global impact of the world’s largest beverage brand. During his leadership, Isdell championed a modern vision for the company by embedding sustainability and corporate responsibility into its global operations. His efforts helped return Coca-Cola to Fortune’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list in 2006, and Isdell was named Beverage Industry’s 2008 Executive of the Year. Born in Ireland and raised in Africa, Isdell began his Coca-Cola career in 1966 in Zambia. He quickly rose through the ranks and held senior leadership positions in Australia, the Philippines, Germany, London and Atlanta. In 1998, he floated Coca-Cola Beverages on the London Stock Exchange and retired after overseeing the company’s merger with Hellenic Bottling in 2001. In 2004, Isdell returned to the Coca-Cola Company as chairman and CEO, guiding it through a period of strategic reinvigoration until his final retirement in 2009. During this time frame he received the Clinton Global Citizen Award in recognition of his global leadership and humanitarian work and was a recipient of the coveted Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Isdell has also made significant contributions in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. In addition to serving as Chair Emeritus of WWF-US, he also currently serves on the board of Peace Parks Foundation, is a member of BirdLife International’s Advisory Group and is president of the University of Cape Town Rugby Club. He was previously chairman of WWF-International and the Investment Climate Facility for Africa, and served on the boards of General Motors, British Telecom, and Scottish and Newcastle Breweries. In 2016, Isdell founded EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin—a state-of-the-art cultural institution dedicated to sharing the global impact of the Irish diaspora. He earned a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from the University of Cape Town and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development. Isdell also holds five honorary doctorates.