Board directors from the world's largest beverage company have spent the last two months in a wide search for a suitable candidate. Other contenders included another insider, Steve Heyer, who is currently chief operating officer.
Sources have suggested that Heyer threatened to leave the company if he did not get the top job. Other contenders in the race included James Kilts, chairman and chief executive of Gillette, who was tipped as the leading outsider for the job.
Isdell, 60, last worked for Coke in 1998, having first joined the soft drinks giant in 1966. He is a former BT board director and has held various regional management positions and been responsible for areas such as Australia, Europe, the Philippines, the Middle East and Africa. Most recently he served as president of his own private investment company.
His appointment may come as a surprise to Wall Street analysts that expected the Coca-Cola board to seek an outsider to inject new energy into the beverage giant.
In a statement, Coca Cola board member Don Keough said: "We concluded that our ideal candidate was an executive who combined a deep prior knowledge of our brand, our values and our system."
Isdell takes up his position in early summer.
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