By Mike Esterl
Donald R. Keough, who helped steer Coca-Cola Co. for decades,
died Tuesday. He was 88.
The legendary former executive joined Coke in 1964 and was
president and chief operating officer from 1981 to 1993 before
retiring. He exerted enormous behind-the-scenes influence at the
world's largest beverage company for several more years, including
helping pick chief executives, before retiring from the board of
directors in 2013.
Mr. Keough died in Atlanta after being hospitalized recently for
pneumonia, according to a close family friend. He is survived by
his wife Marilyn, six children, 18 grandchildren and two great
grandchildren.
Born and raised in Iowa, Mr. Keough became a 1940s talk-show
host in Omaha, Neb., at a local television station that also
employed Johnny Carson. He also became neighbors with Warren
Buffett, who would go on to found Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Coke's
largest shareholder.
"You can sum up Don Keough's life in three words: Everybody
loved him," Mr. Buffett said Tuesday.
Mr. Keough took a job in 1950 with the maker of Butter-Nut
Coffee, the sponsor of his TV show, before the company was acquired
by Atlanta-based Coke. The jovial Irish-American won a reputation
as an unrivaled Coke salesman, running the flagship U.S. business
before Chief Executive Roberto C. Goizueta made him his top
deputy.
Messrs. Goizueta and Keough worked closely together and Coke's
sales and shares soared under their leadership. While Mr. Goizueta
focused on financial strategy, Mr. Keough was the company's global
ambassador, negotiating with overseas bottlers and overseeing key
relationships with customers like McDonald's Corp. and with Mr.
Buffett. A gregarious leader, he also would often sit and talk with
rank-and-file employees in Coke's cafeteria.
Mr. Keough became even more famous following the 1985 launch of
New Coke, an experiment that only lasted a few weeks after irate
consumers demanded the old recipe. It was Mr. Keough, not Mr.
Goizueta, who delivered the mea culpa in a news conference and a
television commercial. The publicity helped Coke sales surge even
more after the company agreed to bring back the original
formula.
"Some critics will say Coca-Cola made a marketing mistake," said
Mr. Keough at the time. "Some cynics will say that we planned the
whole thing. The truth is we are not that dumb, and we are not that
smart."
After retiring from Coke in 1993, Mr. Keough became chairman of
Allen & Co., a New York investment firm headed by Herbert A.
Allen, a longtime Coke director and shareholder. Mr. Keough
remained closely involved at Coke behind the scenes and his role
was formalized in 2000, when he was appointed an adviser to Coke
Chief Executive Douglas Daft and the company's board.
In 2004, Coke scrapped its age limit for directors to allow Mr.
Keough to join its board outright. That year he headed the board's
search committee for a new chairman and chief executive, tapping E.
Neville Isdell to lead the company. Mr. Keough continued to be a
powerful board member until retiring in 2013, by which time Coke
says he had visited more than 140 countries on the company's
behalf.
"He was a consummate relationship builder," wrote Chairman and
Chief Executive Muhtar Kent in a lengthy letter to Coke employees
Tuesday. "He could relate to everyone--regardless of culture,
background, walk of life or age."
Mr. Keough battled throat cancer but had received a clean bill
of health after undergoing chemotherapy a few years ago, according
to a close friend. He was in good health until falling ill a few
weeks ago, the friend added.
Mr. Keough was a director at several other large companies over
the years, including H.J. Heinz Co., McDonald's and Berkshire
Hathaway.
His family also has made about $50 million in gifts to the
University of Notre Dame, which announced last year it would create
the Donald R. Keough School of Global Affairs.
Tripp Mickle and Anupreeta Das contributed to this article.
Write to Mike Esterl at mike.esterl@wsj.com
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