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Paul S. Walsh (born 15 May 1955), Manchester, England, is the current Chief Executive Officer of Diageo, one of the world's largest premium drinks companies, and one of the FTSE 100's longest serving chief executives.

He has earned admiration from the business community for his streamlining of the Diageo business, and his acquisition of the Seagram drinks business. He has also earned respect for his bluff, no nonsense "Lancastrian" approach to business.

Walsh has been the subject of considerable anger over Diageo's tax avoidance in the United Kingdom as well as its closure of the Johnnie Walker plant in Kilmarnock, Scotland. He also achieved tabloid attention for his divorce which had one of the largest settlements in British history.

Early life

Walsh was born in Manchester and raised in Chadderton, Oldham, Lancashire. The only child of Arthur and Anne Walsh, his father was a thermal engineer who ran a small pipe fitting company. Walsh was educated at the Royton and Crompton School followed by Oldham College. He was a sociable and competitive child and a keen sportsman whose top subjects were mathematics and history. He initially wanted to become an Royal Air Force pilot but failed the medical due to a minor form of colour blindness, instead going on to study Accounting and Economics at Manchester Polytechnic in 1973. He claims to have inherited his work ethic from his father, his organisational skills from his mother, and his confidence from both parents.

Career

In 1976 Walsh joined the Co-op as a trainee accountant. In 1982 he joined Grand Metropolitan as a Financial Planning and Accounts Manager for their brewing division Watney, Mann and Truman. Whilst at Grand Met he quickly abandoned accounting, "I wanted to move into sales and marketing. I joined with a commitment that that career path would be opened to me and by 29 or 30 I had moved into the commercial area." In 1986 he became finance director for their brewing division.

In 1987 he moved to New York to become finance director for Grand Met's Intercontinental Hotels division. There he was tasked with acquiring properties, but having arrived at the height of what he accurately identified as a real estate bubble he argued that, "at that price we should be selling, not buying". He negotiated the sale of the chain to the Saison Group in 1988 for 55 times its annual earnings. Following the sale he joined Grand Met's food division. The proceeds of the Intercontinental sale were used to purchase Pillsbury, and Walsh says, "I was involved but I was much too junior to say that it was my decision to buy it". In 1992 he became chief executive of Pillsbury, tripling the company's size and doubling its operating margins.

Walsh joined the Grand Met board of directors in October 1995. He became Chief Operating Officer of Diageo on 1 January 2000, and CEO on 1 September 2000. As head of Diageo he transformed the consumer goods company into a streamlined premium drinks business. Walsh argues:

"While Diageo had positions in drinks, that leadership was marginal – capital was not limitless. My view, supported by colleagues on the board, was that we should focus on where we can be a global leader. We couldn't aspire to that in food – that slot was taken by the Unilevers and Nestles and Krafts of this world – but we could command that position in premium drinks."

Walsh sold perceived non-core assets such as Pillsbury in 2000 and Burger King in 2002 and spearheaded the acquisition of the Seagram drinks business in 2001. In doing so he was credited with refocusing and re-energising Diageo. Of the Seagram acquisition he says:

We moved in on that Seagram deal and forced their hand very quickly while our competitors were still trying to get their act together. If you look at what we paid it will go down in history as the bargain of the century. It was an $8.1bn total price of which our part was about $5.6bn and it was at economic profit break even at the end of year two. It’s produced phenomenal returns. If you look at Pernod’s Allied Domecq acquisition, it is 30 per cent higher in multiple terms and you’re not getting as good a collection of brands.

Since 2007 Walsh has consistently been named as one of Britain's most admired businessmen. He takes a populist approach to business, and has been known to help shelf stack Diageo products in supermarkets. In 2008 he received the 'Decade of Excellence Award' at the UK National Business Awards in recognition of his role in building Diageo into a world renowned company. He became a council member of the Scotch Whisky Association from 2001 and served as its chairman from 2008 until 2011. As of 2012 he is one of the FTSE 100's longest serving chief executives.

In 2011 Walsh threatened to move Diageo's headquarters away from the United Kingdom as a result of the 50 per cent income tax rate for high earners. He said: "I believe the 50 per cent tax rate will lead to the long-term damage of this nation’s competitive edge."

In addition to his responsibilities at Diageo, Walsh is a non-executive director at FedEx Corporation and Unilever. He joined Avanti Communications as a non-executive director in 2012. He is former chairman of the governors at Henley Management College and is a council member at the University of Reading. Walsh is also a member of David Cameron's Business Advisory Group. It has been widely anticipated in the press that Walsh will step down as Diageo CEO in 2014, and his name is often linked with the leadership role at Unilever.

Personal life

He married Manchester-born Nikki in 1980 and they have a son Dean (born 27 April 1981). He met Nikki in Chadderton in 1978 when she was a Laker air hostess. In 1987 they moved to the United States, first New York then Orono, Minnesota from 1990. They returned to the UK in 1999. They separated in 2006 and she received a divorce settlement of around £15 million, one of the largest payouts in British history.

Walsh's role at Diageo saw his earn £5 million in 2011. He has a £4 million house on a 35-acre (140,000 m) country estate at Petworth, West Sussex, where he relaxes at weekends by fly fishing and horse riding. He also enjoys squash, golf and reading history. He also has a 2,400-acre (9.7 km) estate in South Africa, and a £1 million penthouse in Chelsea that he lives in during weekdays when he is in London. About half of his time is spent working abroad in foreign markets where Diageo is present. He says "I live a relatively modest life...my life tends to be the company: I love the company." He cites his favourite drinks as Johnnie Walker Black Label and Guinness. He was described by The Times as "Tall, paunchy, balding and thickset... a burly confidence that exudes from every pore...a bluff Mancunian whose blokeish humour masks a fiercely competitive nature".

References

1. ^ Montague, Guy (25 February 2012). "A big pay squeeze hits major industry execs | News". The Grocer. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
2. ^ Migration Temp. "Business profile: Walsh's happy hour". Telegraph. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
3. ^ Walsh, Paul S., Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2011 ; online edition, November 2011 accessed 18 April 2012
4. ^ "Boss with the most bottle". The Times. 26 August 2007. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
5. Carl Marsden (9 April 2008). "£70m facelift will make is word class, says college | Oldham Advertiser". menmedia.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
6. ^ "The MT interview: Paul Walsh". Management Today. 1 September 2004. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
7. "Paul Walsh Of Diageo: The Morning After". Institutional Investor, Inc. 30 September 2003. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
8. ^ "Paul Walsh: The Smirnoff Ice Man Cometh to Slate the Drinks Industry Opposition – Science News". redOrbit. 17 September 2005. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
9. Cave, Andrew (20 February 2008). "British business people: The top 1,000: Retail". The Daily Telegraph. London.
10. "Paul Walsh profile – CNN.com". Edition.cnn.com. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
11. "Britain's Most Admired No.1: Diageo, Paul Walsh". Management Today. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
12. Paul S. Walsh (26 March 2012). "Executive Profiles | Diageo plc | Paul S. Walsh". Boardroominsiders.com. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
13. "Non-executive directors | Unilever Global". Unilever.com. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
14. ^ "Whisky – Scotsman.com". Whisky.scotsman.com. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
15. "Mr Paul S Walsh Authorised Biography – Debrett's People of Today, Mr Paul S Walsh Profile". Debretts.com. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
16. ^ Winnett, Robert. "Diageo 'could leave UK' if 50p tax rate remains". Telegraph. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
17. ^ "Profile Detail". Diageo.com. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
18. Harriet Dennys (4 January 2012). "City Moves | Who'S Switching Jobs | City A.M". City A.M. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
19. "Paul Walsh". Avanti PLC. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
20. Rupert Steiner (29 February 2012). "Diageo lines up successor to long-standing boss Paul Walsh". This is Money. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
21. Jeff, Dominic (5 December 2011). "Interview: Paul Walsh, chief executive of Diageo – Business". Scotsman.com. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
22. ^ "£4million-a-year drinks tycoon in bitter divorce | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
23. Daren Fonda (7 December 2010). "CEO Interview: Diageo's Paul Walsh". SmartMoney. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
24. "British Distiller Diageo Shifts Its Focus in Acquisitions to Fast-Growing Markets". Recent Business News. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2012.

External links

• Diageo
• Portrait
• Times article August 2007
• Telegraph article February 2007
• Independent article September 2005

Video clips

• Interviewed by Robert Peston in July 2008

Template:Persondata

• Use dmy dates from May 2012
• English chief executives
• People from Chadderton
• Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University
• 1955 births
• Diageo
• Living people