27th January 2021
Walgreens Boots Alliance has appointed Roz Brewer as its next Chief Executive Officer. She will replace Stefano Pessina who announced last summer that he planned to transition to the role of Executive Chairman of the health & beauty giant.
Brewer will take up the position on 15 March from coffee chain Starbucks, where she is currently Chief Operating Officer. She previously served as President and CEO of Walmart’s Sam’s Club warehouse business from 2012 to 2017 and spent 22 years at Kimberly-Clark. She is also a former director of Amazon, Lockheed Martin and Molson Coors Brewing Company.
Pessina has served as the CEO of WBA for six years following the merger between Walgreens and Alliance Boots in December 2014. He will replace James Skinner as Chairman in March.
Walgreens taps Starbucks executive Roz Brewer as CEO
January 27, 2021 / 10:33 AM / AP Walgreens to administer a COVID-19 vaccine
Walgreens said Tuesday it has tapped Starbucks executive Roz Brewer as its new CEO, which will make her the only Black woman leading a Fortune 500 company.
Starbucks announced Tuesday that Brewer was departing after a little more than three years as its chief operating officer. Walgreens later confirmed that Brewer will take over as its CEO on March 15.
There are only a handful of other Black CEOs in the Fortune 500, including Lowe s CEO Marvin Ellison. Ursula Burns was the first Black woman to run a Fortune 500 company when she became CEO of Xerox in 2009. But she lost that role in 2016 when Xerox split into two companies.
Bill Gates has thrown his weight behind a £3.2billion takeover of Signature Aviation as a bidding war looms for the historic British firm.
The Microsoft founder, who owns 19 per cent of the private jets provider through his vehicle Cascade Investment, has joined US private equity giant Blackstone in its bid to buy the business.
Gates and Blackstone revealed they have formed a consortium and are in advanced talks about a 381p per share offer with Signature, formerly known as BBA Aviation, which has already said it is minded to support their advances.
Bidding war: The company made its name making parts for Spitfire planes (above centre) used to fight the Battle of Britain in 1940