in
Davos, 2010
1978–1999 Kent found a job at the Coca-Cola Company in Turkey through a newspaper ad in 1978. He toured the country in trucks to sell Coca-Cola, and thereby learned its
distribution, marketing and
logistics systems. In 1985, he was promoted to the general manager position of Coca-Cola Turkey and Central Asia, and transferred the headquarters of the company from
İzmir to
Istanbul. Three years later, he was appointed president of the company's East Central Europe Division, responsible for 23 countries in a region from the Alps to the
Himalayas. Living in
Vienna, Austria, he served at this post until 1995. the largest local shareholder of the Coca-Cola franchise in Turkey and one of Europe's largest beverage businesses. He extended the company's territory from Serbia to Pakistan. One issue concerns his personal ethics. In 1996, Kent was judged guilty of insider trading in civil court in Australia, where he held a senior-level position at Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd., a regional bottler based in Sydney. He was required not only to give up the profit he made of $324,000, but also pay $30,000 to cover the cost of an investigation by the Australian Securities Commission. Kent has since claimed that his then financial adviser sold short some 100,000 shares of the company on Kent's behalf a mere hours before the profit announcement. In the event, the Australian controversy continued to dog him because two years later - in 1998 - Kent resigned from Coca-Cola Amatil-Europe.
2005–present In May 2005, Kent rejoined Coca-Cola after almost six years and was appointed president and chief operating officer of the company's North Asia, Eurasia and Middle East group, a position reporting directly to chairman and chief executive officer
Neville Isdell. Muhtar Kent's rise continued and he was promoted in January 2006, to the newly created position of president of international operations. In this capacity, he was responsible for all operations outside of North America, and all group presidents outside of North America reported to him. By 2015, it was reported he was paid $25 million a year by the Coca-Cola Company. Kent is co-chair of the
Consumer Goods Forum, a fellow of the Foreign Policy Association, a member of the
Business Roundtable, a past chairman of the US-China Business Council, and current chairman emeritus of the
US-ASEAN Business Council. He was appointed as a member of the Eminent Persons Group for ASEAN by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton. He serves on the boards of Special Olympics International, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Catalyst and Emory University. and the
National Committee on United States-China Relations. He is an invitee of the
Bilderberg Group and attended the
Greece 2009 Bilderberg conference at the Astir Palace resort in
Vouliagmeni, Greece. In May 2014, Kent was awarded an honorary degree by the
Georgia Institute of Technology. In December 2016, Coca-Cola announced that Kent would step down as CEO in May 2017, to be replaced by president and COO
James Quincey. Kent continued as the company's chairman. He stepped down as chairman in April 2019. In 2016, he was inducted as a Georgia Trustee, an honor given by the
Georgia Historical Society in conjunction with the
Governor of Georgia to individuals whose accomplishments and community service reflect the ideals of the founding body of
Trustees, which governed the Georgia colony from 1732 to 1752. In 2016, Kent was mentioned as a possible
running mate for
Hillary Clinton during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. ==References==