Diageo plc

What does Diageo own?
Diageo owns a portfolio of approximately 200 alcoholic beverage brands including Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky, Guinness stout, Smirnoff vodka, Don Julio tequila, Baileys Irish cream, Captain Morgan rum, Crown Royal Canadian whisky, Tanqueray gin, Bulleit bourbon, and Cîroc vodka. The company also holds a 34 percent stake in Moët Hennessy, the wines and spirits division of LVMH, giving it indirect exposure to the Hennessy cognac and Moët & Chandon champagne brands. Diageo's brands are sold in nearly 180 countries.

Is Diageo publicly traded?
Yes, Diageo plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange under ticker DGE and on the New York Stock Exchange as an American Depositary Receipt under ticker DEO. The company has been publicly listed since its formation in 1997 through the merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness. Diageo does not have a controlling shareholder, and its shares are held primarily by institutional investors.

Who founded Diageo?
Diageo was formed on 17 December 1997 through the merger of Grand Metropolitan plc and Guinness plc. Grand Metropolitan was a British conglomerate that owned Smirnoff, Baileys, and J&B, among other brands. Guinness plc owned the Guinness stout brand, Johnnie Walker, and a portfolio of other spirits. The merged entity was named Diageo, a name derived from Latin and Greek roots intended to convey global reach.

Where is Diageo headquartered?
Diageo is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The company maintains its registered office and principal executive offices in London. Diageo's operational footprint spans the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Scotland, Jamaica, Mexico, India, and Canada, among other countries. The company's Scotch whisky operations are centered in Scotland, where it operates numerous distilleries.

How many brands does Diageo own?
Diageo owns approximately 200 alcoholic beverage brands across spirits, beer, and wine. Of these, 13 brands each generate over one billion US dollars in annual net sales. These billion-dollar brands include Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, Don Julio, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Tanqueray, Bulleit, J&B, Buchanan's, Windsor, and Cîroc. The company also holds a 34 percent stake in Moët Hennessy, which owns additional premium brands.

Who owns Diageo?
Diageo plc is a publicly traded company with no controlling shareholder. The company's shares are held primarily by institutional investors including major asset managers and pension funds. No single shareholder holds a majority stake in Diageo. The company is incorporated in England and Wales and is subject to UK corporate governance requirements, including a board with a majority of independent non-executive directors.

What is Diageo's revenue?
Diageo reported net sales of $20.2 billion for FY2025 (ended 30 June 2025), down 0.1 percent reported but up 1.7 percent organically. Operating profit was $4.3 billion and free cash flow was $2.7 billion. The company's fiscal year runs from 1 July to 30 June. Diageo's revenue has faced headwinds from unfavorable foreign exchange movements and challenging macroeconomic conditions in key markets including the United States and Greater China.

Diageo was formed on 17 December 1997 through the merger of Grand Metropolitan plc and Guinness plc, two of the largest British consumer goods companies of the 20th century. The merger created the world's largest alcoholic beverages company at the time and was one of the largest corporate mergers in British history.

Grand Metropolitan plc was a British conglomerate that had assembled a portfolio of food, beverage, and hospitality assets over several decades. Its beverage brands included Smirnoff vodka, J&B Scotch whisky, Baileys Irish cream, and Malibu rum. Grand Metropolitan had also owned Burger King, which it sold in 1997 prior to the Diageo merger.

Guinness plc was the Irish brewing and spirits company that owned the Guinness stout brand, Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky, Bell's whisky, and a portfolio of other spirits brands. Guinness had itself been the subject of a major corporate scandal in the 1980s, when its chairman Ernest Saunders was convicted of fraud related to an illegal share-support operation during Guinness's 1986 takeover of Distillers Company.

The merged entity was named Diageo, a name derived from the Latin "dia" (day) and the Greek "geo" (world), intended to convey the company's global reach. Tony Greener, who had been chairman of Guinness, became chairman of Diageo, and George Bull, who had been CEO of Grand Metropolitan, became the first CEO of the combined company.

In 1998, Diageo sold its Pillsbury food business and its Burger King fast food chain to focus exclusively on alcoholic beverages. The divestitures were part of a strategic decision to concentrate on premium spirits and beer rather than operate as a diversified consumer goods conglomerate.

In 2001, Diageo acquired the Seagram spirits and wine portfolio from Vivendi Universal for approximately $8.15 billion, in a joint acquisition with Pernod Ricard. Diageo's share of the acquisition included Captain Morgan rum, Crown Royal Canadian whisky, Seagram's 7 Crown American blended whiskey, and several other brands. This acquisition significantly strengthened Diageo's position in North America.

In 2014, Diageo acquired a majority stake in Don Julio tequila from Patron Spirits for approximately $408 million, gaining full ownership of the brand. Don Julio has since become one of Diageo's fastest-growing brands, with tequila organic net sales up 18 percent in FY2025.

In 2015, Diageo sold its wine business, including the Blossom Hill and Beaulieu Vineyard brands, to Treasury Wine Estates for approximately $552 million, further concentrating the portfolio on spirits and beer.

Diageo's 34 percent stake in Moët Hennessy dates back to 1994, when Guinness plc acquired the stake from LVMH as part of a restructuring of their cross-shareholding arrangement. This stake was inherited by Diageo when it was formed through the 1997 merger. The stake is accounted for as an associate investment, meaning Moët Hennessy's revenues are not included in Diageo's reported net sales figures.

For FY2025, Don Julio, Guinness, and Crown Royal were standout performers. Don Julio organic net sales grew 18 percent, Crown Royal grew 3 percent, and Guinness continued its strong performance, becoming Great Britain's number one non-alcoholic beer. Johnnie Walker faced headwinds, with organic net sales declining largely due to the United States, Asia Pacific Travel Retail, and Greater China. The company announced an "Accelerate" cost savings programme targeting approximately $625 million in savings over three years.

In November 2025, Diageo appointed Sir Dave Lewis as CEO effective 1 January 2026. Lewis previously served as Group CEO of Tesco plc from 2014 to 2020 and spent nearly three decades at Unilever. He replaced Nik Jhangiani, who had served as Interim CEO following the departure of Debra Crew in July 2025. Jhangiani resumed his CFO role in January 2026.

Diageo has established comprehensive sustainability initiatives through its Spirit of Progress action plan, focusing on climate resilience, water stewardship, packaging sustainability, and regenerative agriculture. The company has committed to achieving net zero emissions across its value chain by 2050, with validated science-based targets aligned to a 1.5 degree warming pathway.

In climate action, Diageo has revised its carbon targets with fiscal 2022 baselines validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company aims to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50 percent by 2030, reaching net zero in direct operations by 2040, and achieving net zero across all scopes by 2050. More than 85 percent of the electricity Diageo uses is now renewable, and Scope 1 and 2 emissions have decreased by nearly one-fifth on the 2022 baseline.

Water stewardship is a critical focus area, as water represents Diageo's most strategic climate risk. The company has surpassed its goal to provide Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities near its sites and implemented over 150 water replenishment projects. Since 2020, Diageo's water efficiency has improved by 20.6 percent, and the company is on track to replenish more water than it uses in water-stressed areas by 2026.

In packaging sustainability, Diageo has hit its 2025 goal of 35 percent recycled content in PET bottles, reaching 43 percent, and aims to increase recycled content in packaging to 50 percent by 2030. The company has surpassed its goal of launching five regenerative agriculture programmes by 2030, implementing 10 programmes to support sustainable farming practices.

Diageo received five Royal Warrants of Appointment to His Majesty The King in 2024, granted to Justerini & Brooks, John Walker & Sons, Royal Lochnagar, Tanqueray Gordon & Company, and The Pimm's Company. The warrants represent recognition of the highest standards of service, quality, and craftsmanship.

Diageo and its predecessor companies have faced regulatory and reputational challenges over their history. The Guinness share-trading scandal of 1986, which predated the formation of Diageo, resulted in the conviction of Guinness chairman Ernest Saunders and other executives for fraud related to an illegal share-support operation during Guinness's takeover of Distillers Company. Saunders was released from prison early on medical grounds and subsequently recovered, a circumstance that attracted significant public attention.

Diageo has faced criticism from public health advocates regarding the marketing of alcoholic beverages, particularly in markets with high rates of alcohol-related harm. The company has published responsible drinking commitments and participates in industry self-regulatory bodies, though critics have argued that these measures are insufficient.

In 2023, Diageo disclosed that it had identified accounting irregularities related to distributor inventory levels in Latin America and the Caribbean, which resulted in a restatement of prior-period results. The company launched an internal investigation and subsequently took corrective action. The disclosure contributed to a significant decline in Diageo's share price.

In 2025, Diageo faced additional scrutiny when CEO Debra Crew stepped down abruptly in July, with Nik Jhangiani serving as Interim CEO until Sir Dave Lewis was appointed in November. The months-long CEO search and a sales and profit outlook downgrade for FY2026 contributed to share price volatility.