Diageo

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Logo of Diageo PLC on the side of the former headquarters building in London, England.

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Diageo PLC may not be a name that’s as recognizable as those of its brands, but its products are everywhere. The British company is one of the world’s largest producers of alcoholic beverages, with a lineup that includes Johnnie Walker (Scotch whisky), Guinness (beer), Tanqueray (gin), Baileys (cream liqueur), Captain Morgan (rum), Don Julio (tequila), and Smirnoff (vodka).

Diageo sells more than 200 products in nearly 180 countries. Its product lineup ranges from high-end bottles priced over $250 to more affordable options under $15. Most fall somewhere in the middle: about 30% are in the $15 to $25 range, and 37% cost $25 to $40. As of 2024, Scotch whisky accounted for nearly a quarter of Diageo’s global sales, followed by beer (16%) and tequila (11%).

The company distributes its products through wholesalers, large retailers, online marketplaces, its own e-commerce site (thebar.com), and, less commonly, by selling directly to stores. It also operates more than 130 distilleries, breweries, and bottling plants worldwide. Some focus on regional spirits: cachaça, a sugarcane-based liquor from Brazil; raki, made with grapes and anise in Turkey; and offerings from China such as baijiu and whisky. Despite its global presence, nearly 40% of its annual revenue comes from North America, mostly from the United States.

From 2007 to 2020, Diageo bought several spirit brands that were founded or endorsed by celebrities, including Cîroc vodka (Sean Combs, acquired in 2007); Casamigos tequila (George Clooney, 2017); and Aviation gin (Ryan Reynolds, 2020). These purchases were part of a broader effort to refresh the company’s image and attract younger customers, especially in the U.S. The celebrity connection has helped these products stand out in a crowded market, and some have sold at higher prices than Diageo’s longer-established labels.

Diageo has also expanded into nonalcoholic spirits, selling alcohol-free versions of some of its better-known products. It also owns two nonalcoholic product lines: Seedlip and Ritual Zero Proof.

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A pint glass of Guinness on the bar at The Auld Shillelagh public house on January 29, 2025 in the Stoke Newington area of London, England.

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Diageo was created in 1997 through the merger of two British companies: Guinness, known for its iconic stout beer, and Grand Metropolitan, a conglomerate. Guinness had focused mainly on beer and Scotch whisky, while Grand Metropolitan had acquired various companies involved in food, drink, hospitality, and even casinos. Its alcohol brands included Baileys and Smirnoff.

After the merger, Diageo organized its operations into four divisions. Guinness Brewing Worldwide and United Distillers & Vintners managed its beer, spirits, and wine businesses. Pillsbury and Burger King were food and restaurant operations inherited from Grand Metropolitan.

As the company shifted its focus to alcoholic beverages, it began selling off unrelated businesses. In 2001, it sold Guinness World Records, the global reference book known for documenting record-breaking human achievements and originally developed as a brewery promotion. Pillsbury was sold to General Mills in a $10.5 billion deal, completed the same year. Diageo received an equity stake in General Mills as part of that transaction, which was sold off entirely by 2005. Burger King was sold to a private equity consortium for roughly $2.3 billion in 2002.

In 2001, Diageo and the French company Pernod Ricard jointly acquired the alcohol business of Seagram. The deal added major names like Captain Morgan and Crown Royal to Diageo’s lineup. To avoid giving Diageo too large a share of the U.S. rum market, the Federal Trade Commission required the company to sell its existing rum brand, Malibu, within six months. At the time, Seagram and Diageo were America’s second- and third-largest rum sellers, behind Bacardi.

In the mid-2000s, Diageo began expanding its international footprint. It launched an Indian whisky, acquired Ireland’s Old Bushmills Distillery from Pernod Ricard, and purchased a large stake in Quanxing Group, a Chinese producer of baijiu, a popular grain-based spirit. The company also grew its wine business, acquiring California-based Chalone Wine Group and Rosenblum Cellars as part of its Chateau & Estate Wines division.

In 2014, Diageo paid £1.85 billion ($3.2 billion) to acquire a controlling stake in United Spirits, one of India’s largest liquor companies. The acquisition followed a six-year effort that included regulatory reviews and concerns about competition. By the end of that year, United Spirits had posted a ₹44 billion ($728 million) loss, largely related to the sale of its Whyte & Mackay whisky business, which was required to complete the deal. The result was a sharp setback for Diageo’s expansion strategy in India, a market it had identified as key to growth.

In 2015, Diageo and Heineken—both of which held stakes in joint beer ventures in several regions—restructured their operations in a handful of growing markets. The goal was to streamline ownership and sharpen each company’s focus on regions where it saw the most potential. Diageo surrendered its 57.9% stake in Jamaica’s Desnoes & Geddes—brewer of Red Stripe and Dragon—to Heineken, along with its interests in beer operations in Malaysia and Singapore. In return, Diageo gained full control of Guinness Ghana Breweries, increasing its stake to 72.4%, and received a cash payment of $780.5 million, which it said would be used to reduce debt.

That same year, Diageo sold most of its wine business, including U.S.–based Chateau & Estate Wines and U.K.–based Percy Fox, to Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates for $552 million, again citing a desire to focus on its core spirits portfolio and reduce leverage. It also completed its acquisition of the Don Julio tequila label from Jose Cuervo and gave up Bushmills Irish whiskey in exchange for the remaining 50% of Don Julio held by Jose Cuervo along with a $408 million payment.

Despite years of dealmaking and geographic expansion, Diageo lost its title as the world’s most valuable alcoholic beverage company. In 2017, China’s Kweichow Moutai—maker of baijiu, a popular sorghum-based liquor—surpassed it in market capitalization. The change reflected rising demand for domestic spirits in China and highlighted the growing global influence of Chinese companies in the alcohol industry.

In 2018, Diageo sold 19 of its lower-priced spirit labels, including Seagram’s VO Canadian whisky and Goldschlager cinnamon schnapps, to Sazerac Co. in a $550 million deal. The move was part of a broader effort to focus on higher-margin products. About the same time, it acquired Casamigos, George Clooney’s premium tequila label. In 2019, it expanded into the nonalcoholic category by acquiring a majority stake in Seedlip, a zero-proof spirit.

In 2020, Diageo paid $5 million to settle charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the company had pressured distributors to buy more inventory than they could sell, aiming to meet internal sales targets during a market downturn.

In 2021, Diageo committed $500 million to expand tequila production in Mexico, aiming to grow in a category where it saw demand rising. But the company’s expectations proved too optimistic. By 2023, excess inventory had built up in Latin America—particularly in Mexico and Brazil—as consumers shifted toward cheaper products. Reports of the oversupply surfaced shortly after Debra Crew became chief executive officer in mid-2023. In November, the company issued a profit warning tied to weak demand in the region. Sales in Latin America ultimately fell 21% during fiscal year 2024, pulling down overall revenue and pushing earnings below expectations. Global sales declined for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, and Diageo’s stock fell to a four-year low.

In September 2024—after the close of its 2024 fiscal year—Diageo acquired Ritual, another zero-proof spirit brand, as part of its continued push into the nonalcoholic category.

In 2025, Diageo faced another setback when the Trump administration imposed a 10% tariff on imports from the United Kingdom and European Union. The company estimated the measure would cut annual operating profit by about $150 million, down from earlier forecasts of roughly $200 million, after threats of a 25% tariff on Mexican tequila and Canadian whisky failed to materialize. Diageo partly mitigated the blow by accelerating shipments to North America ahead of the tariff. With sales still under pressure, CEO Debra Crew stepped down in June 2025 and was replaced on an interim basis by the company’s chief financial officer, Nik Jhangiani.

Diageo remains one of the most influential companies in the global alcohol industry, with a lineup that includes some of the world’s most recognizable beer and spirits brands. Its international scale, once a clear strength, has also left it vulnerable to changing consumer habits, regional volatility, and political risk. But brands like Guinness and Johnnie Walker have long helped define what consumers drink—familiar presences whose influence remains hard to miss.