For the first time in the company’s history, Coca-Cola’s board of directors is set to have no members based in Atlanta.
Earlier this month, the Coca-Cola Company announced that Ronald W. Allen would not seek re-election to the board at its annual meeting in April.
Allen, 78, is the former chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. He has been on the board since 1991 and the only current Atlanta-based member of the 14-person board.
“It has been an honor to serve as a director of Coca-Cola for 29 years and to work with six different CEOs, beginning with Roberto Goizueta and ending with James Quincey,” Allen said in a statement.
The company told the Atlanta Business Chronicle in a statement that Coke remains committed to its Atlanta ties.
"Since the first Coke was served in downtown Atlanta in 1886, The Coca-Cola Company has been a central part of Atlanta, and Atlanta has been a central part of Coca-Cola. That has never changed. Even with an operational footprint in more than 200 countries and territories, our system proudly employs more people in Atlanta than in any single city on the globe," the company said, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
The statement goes on to say that the company is proud of its investments it has made “in the city we’ve called home for more than 133 years.”
The newspaper reports that Allen owned 24,000 shares of Coca-Cola as of February 2019.
In a press release, Coca-Cola’s Chairman and CEO James Quincey praised Allen for his time on the board.
“Ron Allen has had a distinguished career, and we thank him for his nearly three decades of service to The Coca-Cola Company,” James Quincey said in the release.
The release notes that Allen was also previously the chairman of CEO of Aaron’s Inc. and is currently a board member at Forward Air Corporation and Aircastle Limited.
The company has not commented on Allen’s replacement.
