Abhishek Singhvi, a former classmate of Ivan Menezes at Columba’s and Stephen’s, said that Menezes passed away on Wednesday after being admitted to the hospital on Monday for treatment of gastrointestinal ulcers. Menezes was the CEO of Diageo, the world’s largest spirits company. I am awaiting official communication from the company.
Singhvi in his tweet said, “Shocked & numbed two hear of passing of #IvanMenezes, my classmate at Columba’s & Stephen’s. A more gentle laid back & easy going soul would be difficult to find. I used to joke with him as to how, with these traits, he could head a multinational like #Diageo, which he so ably did. RIP my friend.”
Shocked &numbed 2hear of passing of #IvanMenezes, my classmate at Columba’s &Stephen’s. A more gentle laid back & easy going soul would be difficult 2find. I used 2joke with him as 2how, with these traits, he cld head a multinatl like #Diageo, which he so ably did. RIP my friend.
— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) June 7, 2023
Sunit Arora, an independent journalist and editor, tweeted that Menezes “will be sorely missed.”
Just learnt that Ivan Menezes has passed away…a gentle, brilliant man who will be deeply missed.
— Sunit Arora (@sunitarora) June 7, 2023
In a statement released on Monday, Diageo said, “Over the weekend, we learned that Ivan’s recovery suffered a significant setback due to complications, which followed emergency surgery on the ulcer.”
CEO-designate Debra Crew had undertaken the position on an interim basis, making her the first female CEO to manage a company included in the FTSE index of leading British corporations. The former US military intelligence officer will assume the company’s top position as it seeks to consolidate its dominance in the United States and establish several premium brands. She was named chief operating officer in 2017 and president of Diageo North America and Global Supply in 2020.
Menezes joined Diageo in 1997, following the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan that created the company. The Indian-American led the company through multiple brand acquisitions and contributed to a significant sales increase.
