Stars shining on Coke heir apparent Heyer

Steven Heyer, the heir apparent to replace Doug Daft as chief executive of Coca-Cola Co, is a relative newcomer at Coke with a background st...

Steven Heyer, the heir apparent to replace Doug Daft as chief executive of Coca-Cola Co, is a relative newcomer at Coke with a background steeped in the world of media and advertising.

The 50-year-old American has enjoyed a stunning corporate climb since joining the world’s largest soft drink maker in 2001 and has won praise from Wall Street analysts, who credit him with bringing a new vision to the struggling company.

Coca-Cola announced on Thursday that Daft would retire at the end of 2004 and that Heyer, who currently serves as Coca-Cola’s president and chief operating officer, was a strong internal candidate to replace him.

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“He is funny, smart as a whip and ambitious,” said JohnSicher, editor of Beverage Digest, a leading industry newsletter. “He’s done some terrific things since he’s been at Coke, and the book on Heyer has only begun to be written.”

Heyer was president and chief operating officer of AOL Time Warner Inc’s Turner Broadcasting System until the spring of 2001, when he was hired to spearhead Coca-Cola’s bid to develop new drinks and market its juices, coffees and teas through joint ventures. He did not serve long in that position, taking over the company’s struggling Latin American operations one year later.

The move was seen by many analysts as an attempt by Coca-Cola to groom Heyer for bigger and better things. It was confirmed several months later when Heyer vaulted into the second-highest position in the company, taking over as president and chief operating officer. Analysts began talking about the inevitability of Heyer replacing Daft.