Nicandro Durante
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Nicandro Durante | |
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Born | São Paulo, Brazil | 13 September 1956
Nationality | Brazilian |
Alma mater | Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo |
Occupation | Businessman |
Years active | 1977–present |
Title | CEO, British American Tobacco |
Term | 2011–2019 |
Predecessor | Paul Adams |
Successor | Jack Bowles |
Children | 2 |
Nicandro Durante (born 13 September 1956) is a Brazilian businessman, who was the chief executive (CEO) of British American Tobacco plc (informally BAT), the world's largest tobacco company by sales, from 2011 to 2019.
Early life
Durante was born in Goias, Brazil, and is of Italian ancestry. Durante has a bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics and Business Administration from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo.
Career
Durante joined BAT's Brazilian subsidiary Souza Cruz in 1981. In January 2008, he was appointed BAT's chief operating officer, and in March 2011 became chief executive. In late 2018 BAT announced that Durante would retire at the end of March 2019.[1] Durante is BAT's first non-British CEO. During his tenure as CEO, BAT's share price has doubled.[2] But share prices collapsed in 2018, returning to 2011 share prices;[3] it appeared that he had misjudged the FDA's attitude towards menthol cigarettes, and that BAT had overpaid in the acquisition of the Reynolds minorities in July 2017 (at the time, the largest ever foreign investment into a US firm). His retirement came at a highly controversial time in the firm's history.
In 2015 he took home almost £8 million.[4]
In 2016 he asked for a raise to reach £10 million, saying he deserved another £2 million.[4]
Personal life
Durante enjoys cigar-smoking, the opera, running and playing football. He is married with two children.[2]
Notes
- ^ "The running man of Big Tobacco". Financial Times. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ^ a b Shubber, Kadhim (October 21, 2016). "The cigar-smoking, football-playing Brazilian behind Reynolds bid". Financial Times. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ "5 Worst Performing FTSE companies 2018". MorningStar. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
- ^ a b "BAT chief pay jumps". The Telegraph. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.