The board of directors of Diageo has appointed Dave Lewis as chief executive officer and executive director, effective from 1 January 2026.
Lewis has served as group CEO of Tesco plc from 2014 to 2020, where he transformed the business. Before that, he spent almost three decades at Unilever, most recently in executive committee roles focused on marketing and business performance.
“We are delighted to welcome Dave as Diageo’s new CEO. Having conducted an extensive and thorough global search, the board unanimously felt that Dave has both the extensive CEO experience, and the proven leadership skills in building and marketing world-leading brands, that is right for Diageo at this time,” said John Manzoni, Diageo’s chair.
Lewis has also been chair of Haleon, a global consumer healthcare company, since its creation in 2022, and is a non-executive board director of PepsiCo Inc. He will step down from his Haleon role on 31 December 2025.
Nik Jhangiani will continue as interim CEO until the end of December 2025, after which he will resume his role as CFO. Deirdre Mahlan, who returned to Diageo as interim CFO, will continue to support the company through the transition.
“Diageo is a world leading business with a portfolio of very strong brands, and I am delighted to be joining the team. The market faces some headwinds but there are also significant opportunities,” said Lewis. “I look forward to working with the team to face these challenges and realise some of the opportunities in a way which creates shareholder value.”