Francisco Javier Ferrán Larraz (born August 1956) is a Spanish businessman. He was president and chief executive officer (CEO) of

Bacardi Bacardi Limited ( , , ) is the largest privately held, family-owned spirits company in the world. Originally known for its Bacardí brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 by Facund ...

from 2003 to 2004. Ferrán has been the chairman of

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

since January 2017, when

Franz Humer Franz Bernhard Humer (born 1 July 1946, in Salzburg, Austria) is a Swiss-Austrian businessman, and the former chairman of Diageo, and of Roche. Life and career Humer studied law at the University of Innsbruck and later obtained a doctorate in l ...

retired. His Diageo tenure was renewed in 2023 for three further years and is set to expire in October 2025. Ferrán also chairs

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

' parent company, International Consolidated Airlines Group.

Early life and education

Ferrán was born in August 1956. He graduated from the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

and received a BA and MBA from

ESADE Esade (Escola Superior d'Administració i Direcció d'Empreses) is an international private educational institution based in Barcelona, Spain. Esade runs two schools of the university, ESADE Business School, Esade Business School and ESADE Law Sch ...

, in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. He later earned an MA in Computer Information Systems from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

in 1984.

Career

From 1979 to 1984, he worked for

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Established in Birmingham in 1765, Lloyds Bank e ...

, including two years as vice President of the

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

branch. He joined

Martini & Rossi Martini & Rossi is an Italian multinational alcoholic beverage company primarily associated with the Martini (vermouth), Martini brand of vermouth and also with sparkling wine (for example, Asti (wine), Asti). It also produces the French vermo ...

in 1985, where he later served as managing director. He joined Bacardi in 1992, and served as regional president for Europe, Middle East and Africa from 1994. He served as president and CEO from March 2003 to November 2004. During his time at Bacardi, he oversaw the acquisition of

Grey Goose vodka Grey Goose is a brand of vodka produced in France. It was created in the 90s by American businessman Sidney Frank, who sold it to the multinational company Bacardi in 2004. The ''Maître de Chai'' for Grey Goose is François Thibault, who develo ...

. Since 2019, he has served as an operating partner with

BlackRock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

's private equity fund. He was previously a partner of the London-based

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

Lion Capital LLP Lion Capital LLP is a British private equity firm specialising in investments in the consumer sector. Previous and current consumer brands owned by Lion have included Weetabix, Jimmy Choo Ltd, Jimmy Choo, Wagamama, Kettle Foods and AllSaints. Th ...

from 2005 to 2019. He has been a director at SABMiller. He is also on the board of directors of

Associated British Foods Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England. Its ingredients division is the world's second-largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major pr ...

and Agrolimen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferran, Javier 1956 births Associated British Foods people Bacardi people ESADE alumni Living people Spanish businesspeople University of Barcelona alumni University of Miami alumni Spanish chief executives Spanish chairpersons of corporations Diageo people