Roberto Goizueta
Encyclopedia
Roberto Críspulo Goizueta (November 18, 1931 – October 18, 1997) was Chairman, Director
, and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of The Coca-Cola Company
from August 1980 until his death in October 1997.
Under the direction of Goizueta, the Coca-Cola Company became a top US corporation. He is credited with invigorating the company with a global vision.
, Cuba
. He was the only son of Críspulo and Aída Goizueta. His grandparents on both sides of his family had emigrated from the Spanish Basque Country
to Cuba
in the late 19th century. His mother's father, Marcelo Cantera, owned a profitable portion of a local sugar mill. His father, Crispulo, was an architect and a real estate investor who inherited Cantera's sugar interests.
In Havana, Goizueta attended Colegio de Belén, a Jesuit secondary school and later studied for a year in the United States
at the Cheshire Academy
, a preparatory school in Connecticut
. At Cheshire, Goizueta bettered his English skills by watching American
movies.
He began studies at Yale University
in 1948, earning a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1953, he returned to Cuba to work in his family's business.
Fidel Castro
rose to power in Cuba, transforming the island into a communist state. While on vacation in Miami, Goizueta and his family decided to defect to the United States. At the time of their defection, they had $40 and 100 shares of Coca-Cola stock.
His son Roberto is a prominent Catholic theologian who is currently the Margaret O'Brien Flatley Professor of Catholic Theology at Boston College.
A heavy smoker, Goizueta died of causes related to lung cancer.
After defecting to the United States, Goizueta worked for The Coca-Cola Company in Miami. He was re-assigned to Nassau, Bahamas
as a Chemist for the Caribbean
region.
In 1964 he was moved to the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia
. At the age of 35, he became Vice President of Technical Research and Development. He remains the youngest person to hold this position at the company. In 1975, he was promoted to lead the Legal and External Affairs department.
Roberto Goizueta received a surprising appointment in 1979, to become President of the Coca-Cola Company after then officer J. Lucian Smith (Coca Cola President 1974-1979) resigned. In March 1981, he assumed the chairmanship after Chairman J. Paul Austin (Coca Cola President 1962-1971) retired.
Goizueta remained at the helm of The Coca-Cola Company for sixteen years until the time of his death, due to complications from lung cancer, in 1997.
During his tenure, the Coca-Cola brand became the most well-known trademark in the world. He introduced the Coke slogans "Coke is it!", "You Can't Beat the Feeling" and "Always Coca-Cola". He launched Diet Coke
, as well as the ill-fated New Coke
.
In 1982 Goizueta approved the purchase of Columbia Pictures, signaling Coca-Cola's intentions to branch out beyond the soft-drink business. Many analysts believed Coca-Cola had paid too much for the film studio, which, like all entertainment companies, was subject to the unpredictable whims of the movie-going public. Goizueta found himself uncomfortable in a business he knew little about, and in 1989 he sold Columbia to Sony for $3 billion.
He also sat on the Board of Directors for various companies, including, SunTrust Banks, Inc., the Ford Motor Company, and the Eastman Kodak Company.
Goizueta was famous for his business rivalry with fellow businessman Roger Enrico
, CEO of PepsiCo.
In 1992, he established the Goizueta Foundation, with a goal to support educational and charity institutions. "The purpose of the Goizueta Foundation is to assist organizations that empower individuals and families through educational opportunities to improve the quality of their lives."
Go to http://www.goizuetafoundation.org/ for more information on the Goizueta Foundation.
, the Board of Trustees at Emory University
in Atlanta, Georgia, named its business school
after Roberto Goizueta. The school grants BBA
s, MBAs, and PhD
s in business. Emory University has an extensive history with Coca-Cola. In 1899, Methodist Bishop Warren Candler's brother Asa Candler was elected to Emory's Board of Trustees and was a generous patron of the university.
In January 1999, the estate of Goizueta pledged $20 million to Emory University.
"Opportunity... ours to seize... ours to live... and ours to defend. Or otherwise—ultimately—ours to lose."
"Lack of integrity renders worthless all other values. Without integrity no other personal quality has much value ... because integrity overrides everything else."
"Once you lose everything, what's the worst that's going to happen to you? You develop a self-assurance."
"We're going to take risks. What has always been will not necessarily always be forever."
"State expectations. Meet expectations. Repeat." – (on creating credibility.)
"The moment avoiding failure becomes your motivation, you're down the path of inactivity. You stumble only if you're moving."
"In order to show proper respect for your future, you must sometimes show some insensitivity to your past."
"Integrity... it means doing what is right. Not necessarily what is correct—no one is correct all the time. But doing what is right."
"Communication is the only task you cannot delegate."
"If you take risks, you may fail. But if you do not take risks, you will surely fail. The greatest risk of all is to do nothing."
"Will we have courage and wisdom... to aspire to build a school completely distinctive in its ability to add value to our society" (on the Goizueta Business School
of Emory University
)
"What are you doing here? Marcos has declared elections. I am Cuban. I have no country to go back to. You have a chance to do something for your country." (speaking to his friend, Philippine Senator
Mar Roxas
, then a Wall Street
investment banker in 1985. Senator Roxas ran for the Philippine Presidential election in May 2010.)
in 1996 and 1997.
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
, and Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
(CEO) of The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia...
from August 1980 until his death in October 1997.
Under the direction of Goizueta, the Coca-Cola Company became a top US corporation. He is credited with invigorating the company with a global vision.
Life
Roberto Goizueta was born into a prominent family in HavanaHavana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. He was the only son of Críspulo and Aída Goizueta. His grandparents on both sides of his family had emigrated from the Spanish Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
in the late 19th century. His mother's father, Marcelo Cantera, owned a profitable portion of a local sugar mill. His father, Crispulo, was an architect and a real estate investor who inherited Cantera's sugar interests.
In Havana, Goizueta attended Colegio de Belén, a Jesuit secondary school and later studied for a year in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the Cheshire Academy
Cheshire Academy
Cheshire Academy is a college preparatory school located in Cheshire, Connecticut. Founded in 1794 as the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, it was the tenth private academy founded in the United States....
, a preparatory school in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. At Cheshire, Goizueta bettered his English skills by watching American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
movies.
He began studies at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1948, earning a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1953, he returned to Cuba to work in his family's business.
Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
rose to power in Cuba, transforming the island into a communist state. While on vacation in Miami, Goizueta and his family decided to defect to the United States. At the time of their defection, they had $40 and 100 shares of Coca-Cola stock.
His son Roberto is a prominent Catholic theologian who is currently the Margaret O'Brien Flatley Professor of Catholic Theology at Boston College.
A heavy smoker, Goizueta died of causes related to lung cancer.
Career at the Coca-Cola Company
A year after returning to Cuba to work in his family's business, replying to an anonymous want ad in his local newspaper, Goizueta found himself working for the Coca-Cola bottler in Cuba. A short time later he was promoted to Chief Technical Director of five Cuban bottling plants.After defecting to the United States, Goizueta worked for The Coca-Cola Company in Miami. He was re-assigned to Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
as a Chemist for the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
region.
In 1964 he was moved to the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. At the age of 35, he became Vice President of Technical Research and Development. He remains the youngest person to hold this position at the company. In 1975, he was promoted to lead the Legal and External Affairs department.
Roberto Goizueta received a surprising appointment in 1979, to become President of the Coca-Cola Company after then officer J. Lucian Smith (Coca Cola President 1974-1979) resigned. In March 1981, he assumed the chairmanship after Chairman J. Paul Austin (Coca Cola President 1962-1971) retired.
Goizueta remained at the helm of The Coca-Cola Company for sixteen years until the time of his death, due to complications from lung cancer, in 1997.
During his tenure, the Coca-Cola brand became the most well-known trademark in the world. He introduced the Coke slogans "Coke is it!", "You Can't Beat the Feeling" and "Always Coca-Cola". He launched Diet Coke
Diet Coke
Diet Coke is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It was first introduced in the United States on August 9, 1982, as the first new brand since 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark...
, as well as the ill-fated New Coke
New Coke
New Coke was the reformulation of Coca-Cola introduced in 1985 by The Coca-Cola Company to replace the original formula of its flagship soft drink, Coca-Cola...
.
In 1982 Goizueta approved the purchase of Columbia Pictures, signaling Coca-Cola's intentions to branch out beyond the soft-drink business. Many analysts believed Coca-Cola had paid too much for the film studio, which, like all entertainment companies, was subject to the unpredictable whims of the movie-going public. Goizueta found himself uncomfortable in a business he knew little about, and in 1989 he sold Columbia to Sony for $3 billion.
He also sat on the Board of Directors for various companies, including, SunTrust Banks, Inc., the Ford Motor Company, and the Eastman Kodak Company.
Goizueta was famous for his business rivalry with fellow businessman Roger Enrico
Roger Enrico
Roger Enrico is an American businessman.Enrico was educated at Babson College.He is the former Chairman/CEO of PepsiCo form 1996 to 2001, and current Chairman of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc....
, CEO of PepsiCo.
Philanthropy
Roberto Goizueta was a trustee, and many times sat on the board of many educational charitable institutions.In 1992, he established the Goizueta Foundation, with a goal to support educational and charity institutions. "The purpose of the Goizueta Foundation is to assist organizations that empower individuals and families through educational opportunities to improve the quality of their lives."
Go to http://www.goizuetafoundation.org/ for more information on the Goizueta Foundation.
The Goizueta Business School at Emory University
In 1994, after a $10 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff FoundationRobert W. Woodruff
Robert Winship Woodruff was the president of The Coca-Cola Company from 1923 until 1954. With his enormous Coke fortune, he was also a major philanthropist, and many educational and cultural landmarks in the U.S...
, the Board of Trustees at Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
in Atlanta, Georgia, named its business school
Goizueta Business School
Goizueta Business School is a private business school of Emory University located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It is named after Roberto Goizueta, a former president of The Coca-Cola Company.-Academics:...
after Roberto Goizueta. The school grants BBA
BBA
BBA may refer to:*Bachelor of Business Administration, degree*Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO against child labour in India*Backyard Brawlers Association, a wrestling promotion based primarily out of Rockville Centre, NY*Balanced Budget Act, U.S...
s, MBAs, and PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
s in business. Emory University has an extensive history with Coca-Cola. In 1899, Methodist Bishop Warren Candler's brother Asa Candler was elected to Emory's Board of Trustees and was a generous patron of the university.
In January 1999, the estate of Goizueta pledged $20 million to Emory University.
Quotes
"The cynics will tell you that the good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. I say, do it anyway.""Opportunity... ours to seize... ours to live... and ours to defend. Or otherwise—ultimately—ours to lose."
"Lack of integrity renders worthless all other values. Without integrity no other personal quality has much value ... because integrity overrides everything else."
"Once you lose everything, what's the worst that's going to happen to you? You develop a self-assurance."
"We're going to take risks. What has always been will not necessarily always be forever."
"State expectations. Meet expectations. Repeat." – (on creating credibility.)
"The moment avoiding failure becomes your motivation, you're down the path of inactivity. You stumble only if you're moving."
"In order to show proper respect for your future, you must sometimes show some insensitivity to your past."
"Integrity... it means doing what is right. Not necessarily what is correct—no one is correct all the time. But doing what is right."
"Communication is the only task you cannot delegate."
"If you take risks, you may fail. But if you do not take risks, you will surely fail. The greatest risk of all is to do nothing."
"Will we have courage and wisdom... to aspire to build a school completely distinctive in its ability to add value to our society" (on the Goizueta Business School
Goizueta Business School
Goizueta Business School is a private business school of Emory University located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It is named after Roberto Goizueta, a former president of The Coca-Cola Company.-Academics:...
of Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
)
"What are you doing here? Marcos has declared elections. I am Cuban. I have no country to go back to. You have a chance to do something for your country." (speaking to his friend, Philippine Senator
Senate of the Philippines
The Senate of the Philippines is the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress of the Philippines...
Mar Roxas
Mar Roxas
Manuel "Mar" Araneta Roxas II is a former Senator of the Philippines. He is the son of former Senator Gerry Roxas, and the grandson of former President Manuel Roxas and industrialist J. Amado Araneta....
, then a Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
investment banker in 1985. Senator Roxas ran for the Philippine Presidential election in May 2010.)
Dog breeding
Goizueta loved dogs. As a young man, he was certified as show judge for the Boxer breed. His champion Pembroke Welsh Corgi showdog, "Fizz," won "Best of Breed" at Westminster Kennel Club Dog ShowWestminster Kennel Club Dog Show
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a two-day, all-breed benched conformation show that takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City every year. The first Westminster show was held in 1877....
in 1996 and 1997.
Ancestors of Roberto Goizueta
External links
| Preceded by: J. Luican Smith | President of The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia... 1979-1981 | Succeeded by: Donald Keough Donald Keough Donald R. Keough is Chairman of the Board of Allen & Company Incorporated, a New York investment-banking firm. He was elected to that position in April 1993.... |