Coke CEO James Quincey’s Exit Interview & Sen. John Fetterman 3/26/26

26:07What does he bring to the table? What made you say, here's the person who can do it? Well, obviously, it's a process we do with the board. And then we started looking at the pipeline of talent from the day I started, and I'm sure we'll start again from the day Enrique starts. What he brings to the table is 30 years of experience. So he understands where all the buttons and levers are in the system, and he has experience on four continents. So he comes with an ability to understand where we've come from and what needs to be kept going forward, and the changes we've made over the last 10 years being on the leadership team.

26:37But he also brings the energy around the things that need to evolve and the things that need to transform. AI being one of them, the changing nature of the consumers' demands and the geopolitics and the way the world needs to be changed and pushing the organization to do that. And that's where he's got the energy. And so that yin and yang, the focus on preserving what's good yet using digital to do better what we do best. We're not a tech company, but we need to use that technology to take our competitive advantage to another level. And he brings that passion in insight and energy. You spent 30 years at Coca-Cola, too.

27:15Worked all through the system, in Europe, in Latin America, all over the place. Does it take somebody who has spent decades at an organization, at a large organization, to be able to lead it? Not always, but you certainly have an advantage if you've got the right mindset. Because it's a vast enterprise. It's in almost every country. Between us and the bottling system, there's 700 ,000 employees. And the world is not flat. It's not the same everywhere. The Coca-Cola business is not the same everywhere. We have different brands and different portfolios. So being able to understand how the business is different around the world, to understand all the key players in the system.

27:52It's not a ones and zeros business. It's a relationship business. It's a physical business in the physical world. There are over 1 ,000 factories in the Coke system around the world. Understanding that landscape is a tremendous advantage when you think about what needs to run. And of course, you can't be trapped by it. But having that knowledge is a super advantage. You've been a long... I was just trying to remember everybody since Goizetta. And some of the names that I came up with, I had forgotten already. But it was a very hard thing to replace Goizetta. And he died, I think, kind of suddenly.

28:28So you went to Iverster, and then some guy named Daft at one point. And then Muttarkand. Muttarkand. Esdel. Muttarkand. So you worked for some of those gentlemen. I was there. Was it hard to replace? I was thinking, were you the next preeminent Coke CEO? Bukhtar Kent was well thought of. Yeah, he kind of got the, it had destabilized itself when Roberto died suddenly. And it was a mess. It was a mess internally. It was a mess externally in the strategy. And it took a long time, including with Muttar, trying to re-stabilize the ship. But yeah, this is the first time we spent 10 years growing since the 90s.

29:10That's what I meant. I remember how difficult it was. What did he do? I remember it was a bit... It was a long... He was a big smoker. Right. And he was young, I think. Late 60s. Oh, was he late 60s? But it was unusual that... Because he was so well thought of. Yeah. Like actually when you look at it, we kind of went into a trough in the 70s with the stagflation. interestingly Roberto Guzueva and Don Keo they kind of thought doing an extrapolation from the 70s, they thought, well let's diversify we bought Columbia Pictures, we did a whole load of crazy stuff, and then they went, this is all wrong we need to get back to the Coke business this is the gold mine, and from the 80s through the 90s, it was an extraordinary And then I remember New Coke at the time, that was thought of and it's still used in college courses as a mistake But the way they handled it, Don Quio handled it as seen as the perfect way to make a made It opened up the path to Coke Zero and everything else.

30:09You didn't need to be only Coke. And actually, suddenly, Coke became Coke Classic. And that became a new brand. And also, they had the humility to go, we've made a massive mistake. Okay, that was Don Quio. Pull the plug. Anybody that does it now, it's, oh, new Coke. I mean, it's amazing that that's still... But they could have kept trying for ages. Right. But they didn't. They said, no. Never mind. We hear you. Chalk. Right. Dead. Move on. Project Kansas. You have changed. Project Kansas. That was his name. The book's in the world of Coke. You can go and read it. Yeah. You have changed the company in a lot of ways, though, by wanting to be a total beverage company and not just stick to sodas.

30:48That had to be pretty hard to come into Atlanta and say, we're going to change things up because people do remember New Coke so well as the time they got burned. Yeah, look, interestingly, I was not the first person to say we should be a total beverage company. We then failed to align all the subsequent strategy and organization and cultural decisions to bring that to a reality, which is part of why we went into a morass for an extended period of time. But I said, look, if we want to, the principle that came before total beverage company was, if we want to be consumer-centric, like what is the ultimate North Star?

31:23If you look at the other food and beverage companies, people who keep trying to make things that consumers have moved on from, Like, you've got to put the consumer at the center. From that, you then go, they want choice. So why am I selling one thing when they want choice? I need to sell a title portfolio. And so the consequent decisions flow from that, including getting to a town hall to make it clear to people. I stood up at a town hall early on and said, Coke doesn't have to be your favorite beverage, which was blasphemy. That was actually a sharp intake of bread. I can't believe we've got some bread to run the most American company of all.

31:56Well, think of, I'd like to buy the world a Coke, Coke and a smile. Is there any other company where you'd say hot dogs, apple pie, and Coca-Cola? Warren Buffett. It's the most iconic American brand, I think, around. Well, and it's being run by a Canadian now. But the stewardship, I mean, that was a big responsibility for a brand like that, wasn't it? Remember, I grew up with that dream of Coca-Cola, the American. I mean, I grew up in the UK in the 70s, which was the Cold War. You know, I went through Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin. Like, Coca-Cola was emblematic of something we were trying to get back to in Europe, which was freedom and prosperity.

32:36Like, it wasn't that long after the war. And so I always loved the brand. Like, as a young kid, 12, playing squash with my dad, then going to the pub, he had a beer, I have a Coke. Like, I loved the brand and the company. So it wasn't a challenge. It was something I really wanted to do. And you never work a day in your life if you love the job that you have, right? Imagine. People ask me for careers advice. I say, do something you love. The chances are you'll get out of bed earlier and you'll care more about doing it well. It shouldn't be 3.15, but you're right. 3.15 is a hard ask. James, you've seen so many things.

33:13I think back to when you went to Argentina. What was it? 2001 when they were dealing with the crisis there. Inflation got out of control. we've lived through things like that since then. Geopolitical issues that are taking place here, inflation that we worry about that we've lived through post-COVID too. How do you kind of look at what's happening in the world today and say, here's how you need to really think about things, lessons you've taken away from your experiences? Yeah, I mean, the Argentinian one was a true education. It went from being one of the most expensive countries in the world to one of the cheapest countries in the world in a space of about three weeks.

33:46They defaulted, they devalued, they had five presidents in two weeks, they closed all the banks, They devalued by 75%. It was a complete. What it taught me is, look, adaptability. Like just because you think strategy A is working, something could come along and you just need to change. But like new code, like you just go, no, we. Yes, that was the past, but now we have to change. Let's move forward, everyone. But also having a degree of resilience and redundancy built in the system, which was useful for us in COVID. We never squeezed the supply chain so much. So it was so just in time that we were exposed to all sorts of risks.

34:21No, we have a degree of redundancy and resiliency in our supply chain because we know things are going to go wrong. It's already happened this year. So we make sure that we have an ability to survive the initial shock and then have the time to adapt and move on to the next thing. Can I ask you, I called you a wildebeest when you walked in because you remember, that was off the record. It was an off the record conversation. But we've talked about it. Not now. We've talked about it since then. But I think that I can remember you having, I think, a bit of an evolution in terms of corporate, of what a CEO really should do culturally.

35:00And whether you should weigh in on every single cultural issue in a divided country where 50 % might feel one way, 50 % feel the other. And that's before I add the other countries. Right. But I think initially you were ready. And I can remember a few times where I thought, oh, this guy's woke. And he's ESG. And I think you kind of evolved to get to the point where, did you evolve? Yeah, I think that's totally fair. It's like you start off and you're like. Well, explain to wildebeest. There's like a thousand of them. If you stay right in the middle, the lion probably isn't going to pick you. The ones that get eaten are the old, the sick, and the ones on the outside.

35:42But then you have to decide. So generally, the will to be to survive someone's middle. The lesson, the journey of the learning is, it's a bit like you're in this job which no other job prepares you for because you're not exposed in any other management job in that way that you are as a CEO. And you're kind of like, what do I do with all these issues? And there was a bit of learning. And eventually I kind of came focused in on, actually, it's not for me to be in everything. I can just be the will to be submitted. There will always be a few issues that are central to the company. I agree. It's the point of deciding, it's not about me.

36:15I'm not the owner or the founder of the company, which is a distinction. I'm a representative of the shelves and employee. And therefore, I can't divide my voice from the company. People are not going to make that distinction, which I think was also a journey for people. Can there be a distinction between your personal view and the company? And I said, no, in the end, there is not. It's got to be one and the same. You've got to represent the company. And therefore, I'm going to talk about things that are central issues to the company. So if you talk about water or waste on packaging, like these are central business issues to the company and therefore we should have a point of view.

36:46There are lots of other issues where I might have a personal point of view, but it's not central to the company. And that's the thing I learned to focus on. And you were early, because I think the world has changed a little bit and come around to the world of these viewpoints. James, you are so good at what you do, so smart, and again, so young. What are you going to do as your next act? I'm not sure what the next act is. The thing that everyone tells you is don't make any decisions right away. And that's what I will try and stick to. But I don't know what the next is. I'm certainly going to be executive chair supporting Enrique in this transition and making sure he gets off to a great start and keeps the thing rolling.

37:29And then I'm not sure. I need to kind of stand back and go, where can I add some value from a kind a societal point of view. You know, I've done CEO. That's not the, that for sure is not going to be in the future. But there's a question of what's next. And I think I need to stand back and reflect on like, what am I interested in and what would be, what would be productive? Yeah, what do you care about? Yeah, exactly. Like, but that's a process of reflection. It's very hard to do that when you're 24 seven as the CEO. Yeah. A lot of people think the only next thing they should do could, they could top what they've done a CNBC contributor.

38:07Yeah, where's Andrew? I cannot believe that both of you just broke out laughing at that. Think about it. We'd love to have you on all the time to talk about this. You don't have to be a contributor. You can have the seat whenever you want. That could be a holiday feeling. You get paid a little if you... I'm not sure I like the getting up a little bit. Emphasis on a little. Yeah. And I'm thinking, we went with no jacket. Maybe we just go with no... You know what? It's too hard to wear a jacket. You did send a message. You're wearing jeans today, and you did in your first presentation that you made to the street too.

38:39That was pretty important. Yeah. You were sending a message. There was a famous saying at Coke, which is, everything communicates. And generally, people in corporations think it's the PowerPoint or the corporate-speak memo that communicates, which is the thing that most employees just ignore, and actually media and everyone. But they pick up on the visual symbols. And so to communicate change was coming, I wore jeans, which is, Atlanta at the time was fairly conservative hierarchical everyone was kind of jackets and slacks and i wanted them to realize change was coming i knew they would ignore everything that got said because it kind of gets lost but if i wore jeans they would realize change was coming and the same thing was on the media we had to communicate people that we were changing that something was changing and we need to drive reconsideration about what needs to get done well i can't thank you enough for being here with us and for being able to watch you over the last many years.

39:31It's really been a pleasure. A person who handles these things just said, yes, please. So, yes, please, for contributing, I swear to God. Immediate feedback. Yeah, immediate. Right, say it here and it comes out there. James, thank you. Thank you. And come back. We want to hear more from you, especially as you think about what you're going to do next. Good, thank you. Thank you. Next on Squawk Pod, we're headed to Capitol Hill. The DHS funding negotiations are at a standstill as lawmakers creep closer and closer to their Easter recess. The Democrat breaking with his own party on DHS funding and voting with Republicans to confirm DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen, it's Senator John Fetterman.

40:15It would be profoundly irresponsible for us to leave unless we figure this out.

40:27Tires matter. They're the only part of your vehicle that touches the road. Tread confidently with new tires from Tire Rack. Whether you're looking for expert recommendations or know exactly what you want, Tire Rack makes it easy. Fast, free shipping, free road hazard protection, and convenient installation options. Go to TireRack.com to see tire test results, tire ratings, and consumer reviews. And be sure to check out all the special offers. TireRack.com, the way tire buying should be. Every day brings somewhere to be, and everyone counting on you to get them there. With seating for up to seven, the 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee L keeps busy schedules moving, from early practices to late night games and the triumphant ride home.

41:11Available 4x4 capability helps you drive safely and confidently when weather shifts or plans change. The laughter, high fives, and shared wins become the memories you cherish. and the 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee L. Jeep and the Jeep Gorilla registered trademarks of FCA US LLC. On any journey using Uber, it helps to know you're getting into the right car. Pin verification adds an extra step to make sure your ride is your ride. Before the trip begins, your app gives you a unique pin. Just tell it to your driver and they'll enter it in their app before the ride can start. Hey, what's your pin? Mm-hmm.

41:432538. That way, you know you're in the right car taking the right trip and your driver knows you're the right passenger. Make sure your ride is your ride with pin verification from Uber. One more way Uber is putting safety at every turn. Learn more on the Uber app.

42:01Welcome back to Squawk Pod. You're watching Squawk Box right here on CNBC. I'm Becky Quick along with Joe Kernan. Andrew is out this week. In Washington, congressional Democrats and Republicans still at odds over how to fully reopen the Department of Homeland Security. DHS has been in a partial shutdown for weeks, leading to TSA staffing shortages at airports. A test vote on funding the department failed in the Senate. Pennsylvania's John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote in favor of that measure. The acting TSA administrator telling lawmakers that the agency has lost close to 500 workers since the shutdown began and that some travelers are facing four and a half hour wait times at airports.

42:45CBS News is reporting that the White House rejected an offer from Elon Musk to pay TSA workers during the shutdown. I don't think it's legal for a private entity to pay government workers. We are going to be speaking with Senator Fetterman just to get his thoughts on this, hear why he voted in favor of it, if he thinks any of his colleagues would potentially vote, what would break the stalemate. Plus, we'll talk to him about a lot of other issues, too. SAVE Act and Iran obviously he's been a big supporter and proponent of that I'm not positive about his future in the Democratic Party at this point but we can talk about that as well as he's got a lot of he's got a lot of challengers next time some people think you know him and Dave McCormick and John Fetterman son was telling me yesterday it's like some people think Fetterman's are there At times more conservative than Senator McCormick.

43:41Maybe Fetterman's fine. I mean, it's the people that elect him. It's not, you know, Chuck Schumer can't decide John Fetterman's not going to be the senator. Yeah, but it's difficult to go through. If you don't have a party supporting you, it's difficult to get through the system, which is why you tend to have very few independents who ever make it through. Or very few. Very few. I guess it just seems like Republicans can't hold their caucuses together nearly as well as Democrats. There's all these, whether it's good or bad, Tom Tillis, you know, people like that. Rand Paul. Rand Paul. Votes however he wants, whenever he wants.

44:16Whereas on the other side, it's like, man, lockstep. I don't know. Who's done something against? Other than Fetterman. He's voted against. In the House, a few things. Yeah. But who in the Senate? Well, Fetterman. Fetterman at this point. That's no one else has even been close. And Schumer's got problems right You know, he does. I know.

44:42Democratic Senator John Fetterman joins us this morning. Senator, it's good to see you. Thanks for joining us. Yo, thanks for having me on. We hear we heard from you probably know that the governor, Sununu from New Hampshire, used to be governor. He said with recess coming that that might do it. Is that really the way it works? Will we get a deal, do you think, in the next couple of days for DHS? I don't know. I mean, I have no specific insight, but it would be profoundly irresponsible for us to leave unless we figure this out. Because at that point, there's nothing any we could do once we're in recess for two and a half weeks.

45:25And already there's mass chaos across America and in our airports. So I don't know when it's going to be resolved. But I've always maintained and been the only Democrat to refuse to shut the D.H. down over the circumstances. We keep hearing from both sides that the other side is moving the goalpost. You're you are you're a Democrat. What do Democrats what will Chuck Schumer accept? Since we've heard that that he has put the kibosh on a couple of deals recently. Do you know? I don't think Chuck really cares what I think, because I'm the one saying don't ever shut the guy. government down. We used to say the same thing when we were Democrats to the Republicans.

46:07Don't shut our government down. That's so irresponsible and damaging. And it is. And it has been. We've done the last thing just last year and plunged America into that kinds of chaos. And 42 million Americans had their snaps suspended. We never delivered anything after all that 43 days of the shutdown. And here we are now, and it's that same circumstances. And all we've done is punished the TSA workers and all the other workers in DHS that are not paid because that's always the wrong thing. And you can't blackmail the other side into policy kinds of changes because it's never worked in the past.

46:52Senator, what would happen if Republicans got rid of the filibuster? Would you vote for that? Do you think that either side should try to do that out of just pure frustration? The filibuster? Yeah, well, I mean, including myself, every single Democrat in 2022, we all wanted to remove the filibuster, you know, and I will admit we were terribly wrong. We were so wrong. And now, you know, the one thing that we wanted to get rid of just a couple years ago. Now we love it and we bear hug it. And that's a reminder. And that really vindicated, whether it's Senator Sinema or Manchin, they were right. And I'll be a Democrat to remind people that we were wrong.

47:40And now that's an important thing to prevent the majority to run over the minority without forcing some type of bipartisanship. Senator, you're still a Democrat. I would never I would never doubt that. And I'm sure you are very I know I'm sure you're very aware of of what you think are issues with with ICE and immigration. So I'm sure that you have a lot of empathy for what Democrats are trying to do. Is that what is forcing Schumer's hand? Is that what's forcing Schumer's hand right now or is it Schumer's own? Do you think what Republicans say that this is about AOC and the base and he needs to just stand tall against anything Trump wants?

48:30Is that what's happening? No, that's not standing tall. That's just punishing TSA members and DHS ones. You know, I called for Noam to go and she was gone. And she was an absolute disaster, no different than Mayarkas in terms of a disaster not doing their job. And now I had the opportunity to vote and support Secretary Mullen. And I did because that's someone I can work with. And that changes have already made. ICE is not in Minneapolis anymore. And Mullen just got his job, I think it was yesterday or two days ago. So I do believe that they're going to make more kinds of changes. It's not going to because we shut the DHS down.

49:15So, you know, what's the difference mean is like I want the same kinds of changes for ICE versus other Democrats. It's just I'm one that refuses to punish Americans and the union members in DHS, too. That makes the difference as the same Democrat party, but just unwilling to do. And a couple other things you've made some headlines on. I think you're a supporter of trying to stop Iran from getting nukes with this latest military action. And also, are you a yes on the Save USA Act, whatever you want to call it, the voter ID legislation? Well, again, Save Act would be enacting if it wasn't for the filibuster.

50:05You know, the same thing that we as Democrats were calling to eliminate that, then they could have enacted SAVE Act because they definitely have all the votes that they would need to do that. So that's why that SAVE Act is not going anywhere, because there's no votes to remove the filibuster, despite all of the rhetoric coming from Trump and some of the Republicans. And how about the action in Iran? I can count Democrats, I think, on one hand. We mentioned Josh Gottheimer. There's a few in the House, maybe. I think you're the only senator, or you could correct me, anyone else that's been positive about what could result from this that might be great long-term in the Middle East?

50:49I mean, not just long-term, short-term. I mean, one of the most destructive regimes in the world, having their military capabilities effectively destroyed and eliminating their leadership. In fact, I just, you know, we can acknowledge and celebrate that they just got the intelligence guy that was behind shutting down the straits. So that's constantly a good thing and always a good thing right now. Of course, there's going to be some fluctuations in oil prices when you have these kinds of things in the area, parts of the world where a lot of oil comes from. But I checked where a gallon price of gas was$3.65, you know, and now I gassed up two days ago in York and it was around$3.75 a gallon.

51:42So for me, I don't think right now the world's on fire. But what I do think it's a good thing. And now that continues to degrade Iran. And then I do believe that was the right thing to do. But that does make me the only Democrat in the Senate that supports, you know, epic fury, despite, you know, the terrible polling number that as a Democrat, I think it's like 11 percent of Democrats support that. I'm glad you're gonna be around till till 2020. I don't know what your future holds. We don't have enough time to talk about that. But I think on both sides of the aisle, people admire you quite a bit, Senator.

52:21And thanks for coming on. I appreciate it. It's like I think it's more important to to really put out like real values and real things. And so. So it's it's that's where I'm at. I think what's right. You know, I'm a committed Democrat, you know, and if we become the non-Big Ten kinds of party, then we're going to have the other problems. Thanks for having me on. Thanks for joining us. That's Squawk Pod for today. Thank you for listening. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross-Organ weekday mornings on CNBC starting at 6 a.m. Eastern. To get the best bits of that three-hour TV show right into your ears, follow Squawk Pod wherever you get your podcasts.

53:08We'll meet you right back here tomorrow. Have a great day. We are clear. Thanks, guys. Thank you so much.

53:36checks don't stop there. Every year, every Uber driver is background checked again, so the person picking you up today meets the same standards as the day they started. Hey, how's it going? Yeah, good. Thanks. Annual driver screenings from Uber. One more way Uber is putting safety at every turn. Learn more at uber.com slash safety.