New chairman for Diageo

Diageo has announced the appointment of Dr Franz Humer as its next chairman, replacing Lord Blyth of Rowington on his retirement.

Dr Humer will take up the role on 1 July 2008 and will leave his current position as chief executive of F. Hoffmann-La Roche in March. Lord (James) Blyth of Rowington will remain chairman of Diageo until the end of June.

“The Board is delighted that Franz Humer will assume the role of chairman next year,” said Lord Blyth. “Franz has a first class track record with considerable experience of international business in both mature and developing markets. He has been a non-executive director of Diageo for two years and during this time he has demonstrated to the whole board the qualities that will allow him to be a very successful chairman of Diageo.”

Lord Blyth joined the Diageo board as a non-executive director on 1 January 1999 and became chairman on 1 July 2000.  His tenure as chairman was extended on 3 September 2003 from five years to seven years.
Franz B. Humer, a Swiss and Austrian by nationality, holds a doctorate in law and an MBA at Insead. He spent over 30 years of his professional career in executive positions in the pharmaceuticals industry. Humer is chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Swiss-based healthcare group Roche. Last week Roche announced that Humer will retire as CEO in March 2008 and remain chairman. Before joining Roche in 1995, he was chief operating officer at Glaxo. Humer became a non-executive board member of Diageo in 2005. He is also a member of the supervisory board of Allianz AG and of the JPMorgan International Council. 

Diageo’s other non-executive directors are Lord Hollick, Maria Lilja, William Shanahan, Jonathan Symonds, Todd Stitzer and Paul Walker. Executive members of the board are Paul Walsh (CEO), Nick Rose (CFO).

Patrick Schmitt, 25/07/07