Douglas Ivester (born 1947) is an American businessman. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...

from 1997 to 2000.

Early life

Melvin Douglas Ivester was born in 1947 in

New Holland, Georgia New Holland is an unincorporated community in Hall County, Georgia, United States. New Holland was constructed by the Pacolet Manufacturing Company in the 1890s and consisted of several hundred homes for workers in the Pacolet Cotton Mill. A cen ...

. He attended New Holland Elementary School, where he met Kay Grindle in the third grade. He grew up to marry her. He attended North Hall High School and went on to the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

, where he earned a degree in

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

, graduating with honors in 1969 from the university’s

Terry College of Business Terry is a unisex diminutive nickname for the given names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence, Terrance (masculine). People Male * Terry A. Canales, American politician * Terry A. Doughty (born 1959), American district judge * Terry A. ...

Career

Ivester began his career with the accounting firm of Ernst and Ernst. In 1979, Ivester joined Coca-Cola as assistant controller and director of corporate auditing, and in 1981 he became the youngest vice president in the company's history. Two years later he was elected senior vice president of finance, and in 1985 he was elected CFO at the age of 37. Ivester was elected chairman of the board and chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Company on October 23, 1997. Ivester received a retirement package estimated to be worth $166 million. Ivester received the

FIFA Order of Merit The FIFA Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. The award is presented at the annual FIFA congress. It is normally awarded to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to :association football. At FIFA's ce ...

in 1996. Ivester serves on the board of directors of

SunTrust Bank SunTrust Banks, Inc. was an American bank holding company with SunTrust Bank as its largest subsidiary and assets of US$199 billion as of March 31, 2018. The bank's most direct corporate parent was established in 1891 in Atlanta, where it was h ...

, now

Truist Financial Truist Financial Corporation () is an American bank holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company was formed in December 2019 as the result of the merger of BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust Company) and SunTrust Banks ...

. In 1996 Ivester was honored with an

Edison Achievement Award Edison Awards is an American company that runs an annual competition honoring excellence in innovation in a broad range of categories. Company The Edison Awards were established by the American Marketing Association in 1987 and has been an i ...

for his commitment to innovation throughout his career.

Philanthropy

Ivester contributes to the University of Georgia and its Terry College of Business as Executive-at-Large through the "Deer Run Fellows" program.Doug Ivester to direct UGA program
''Atlanta Business Chronicle,'' Oct. 14, 2009.

References

External links

*
Deer Run Fellows
Living people 1947 births People from Hall County, Georgia Terry College of Business alumni University of Georgia alumni American chief executives of food industry companies American corporate directors Coca-Cola people 20th-century American businesspeople SunTrust Banks people {{US-business-bio-1940s-stub