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News
BUSINESS BOARD CHANGES
Having reached the company’s retirement age Owsley Brown II is to step down from the chairmanship of Brown-Forman on 1 August to become an executive director and will convert to non-executive on 30 September. Brown, 65, joined the firm directly from the army…
Having reached the company’s retirement age Owsley Brown II is to step down from the chairmanship of Brown-Forman on 1 August to become an executive director and will convert to non-executive on 30 September. Brown, 65, joined the firm directly from the army in 1968 as an assistant treasurer and was appointed to the board as a vice president in 1971. He steadily progressed up the ranks over the next three decades, during which he was appointed overall president/CEO in 1993 and chairman/CEO in 1995. In August 2005 he stepped down from the CEO role, which is currently held by Paul Varga as president/CEO. Brown is also a director of Nacco Industries.
Varga becomes chairman/president/CEO on 1 August this year. Varga, 43, joined the firm in 1986 and progressed through the ranks before being appointed to the board in October 2003 and becoming CEO in August 2005.
Meanwhile, Garvin Brown IV is to become presiding chairman of the board of directors on 27 September. Garvin Brown, 37, was appointed to the board in May 2006, having initially joined the firm in 1996, and served as director of the office of the chairman and chief executive officer between 2002 and 2004. He will continue to serve as brand director for Jack Daniel’s for Africa and Europe, based in London, the position he adopted in 2004.
The son of Garvin Brown III, who retired from the board in July 2006, Garvin Brown IV is the grandson of Owsley Brown II.
In addition, Stephen O’Neil is scheduled to leave the board at the end of April; O’Neil has been an independent director since 1978 and is also a director of Alphatec Holdings.
Two other individuals were recently added to the board. James Welch Jr, vice president for strategy and human resources, joined on 12 March. Welsh, who started with the firm in 1989 from JP Morgan, will retain his current responsibilities but will also serve as a vice chairman of the corporation.
William Mitchell joined the board as an independent director on 12 March; he is chairman/president/CEO of Arrow Electronics and an independent director of Rogers Corp.
© db April 2007