Dive Brief:
- Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Ozan Dokmecioglu resigned his leadership position at the beverage maker because of code of conduct violations, according to a press release by the company.
- Bob Gamgort, executive chairman of Keurig Dr. Pepper (KDP), will return to the CEO role following Dokmecioglu’s resignation, according to the company statement released Thursday.
- KDP did not describe the nature of Dokmecioglu’s code of conduct violations, merely saying in the statement that they were unrelated to strategy, operations or financial reporting. Dokmecioglu served as the company’s top executive for just four months after his promotion from the CFO role in July.
Dive Insight:
Prior to assuming the CEO role, Dokmecioglu served as the company’s CFO beginning in July 2018, according to a filing that month with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“Keurig Dr Pepper's code of conduct is built on a foundation of ethics, integrity and personal responsibility. Every employee, without exception, is accountable for knowing and following the code," Paul S. Michaels, lead director of the KDP board, said in a statement regarding Dokmecioglu’s resignation included in the Thursday release.
KDP declined to comment further.
Dokmecioglu took on the company’s CEO role effective July 29, according to an April 5 company announcement, at which time Gamgort — who severed as CEO and chairman at the time — committed to serving as KDP’s chairman for a two-year period. Gamgort previously served as CEO of Keurig Green Mountain before the formation of KDP, according to a biography on the company’s website.
"KDP has a deep and talented executive team," Gamgort said in a statement Thursday. "I look forward to continuing to work with the leadership team and the board in the role I held less than four months ago."
Sudhanshu Priyadarshi, a Walmart and Pepsi alum, was appointed to fill KDP’s CFO seat in late October, CFO Dive previously reported. The appointment is effective beginning Nov. 14, according to an Oct. 24 filing with the SEC.
Priyadarshi served as CFO for sporting goods equipment company Vista Outdoor for two years prior to accepting the CFO position at the beverage company.
Dokmecioglu is one of several executives to have come under scrutiny in recent weeks. Concerns over a potential conflict of interest regarding the appointment of John R. Tyson to the CFO position of meat industry behemoth Tyson Foods flared again after Tyson’s recent arrest on charges of trespassing and public intoxication, CFO Dive reported. Tyson is the son of company chairman John H. Tyson.
Dental supplies maker Dentsply Sirona, meanwhile, determined that both its former CFO and former CEO violated its code of ethics, according to a Nov. 1 filing with the SEC.
While the filing does not reference either executive by name, a Dentsply spokesperson confirmed to CFO Dive that the CFO in question was Jorge Gomez, who left the company to serve in the top financial seat at biopharmaceutical firm Moderna before leaving after one day in the role.
