Coke's North American prez is now Clorox CEO

SAN FRANCISCO: Clorox has lured away Coca-Cola executive Donald Knauss to guide its household products bazaar, filling a void created after its previous chief executive suffered a heart attack earlier this year.

The Oakland, California-based company announced Mr Knauss’ hiring as its new CEO late Wednesday, shortly after Coca-Cola disclosed Mr Knauss was stepping down as the president of its North American unit.

Clorox had been hunting for a new CEO since Gerald Johnston retired from the job in May, two months after a heart attack. A Clorox board member, Robert Matschullat, had been serving as the company’s chairman and CEO on an interim basis.

“Don has a depth of experience in the consumer products industry, and he is perfectly suited for Clorox in our drive to grow our business,” Mr Matschullat said. “He has a great, no-nonsense style that’s well suited to the Clorox culture.”

Mr Knauss, 55, is taking over a 93-year-old company that initially became well known for its bleach before expanding into other areas of the household. Clorox also makes Glad bags, Armor All auto products, Hidden Valley salad dressings, Liquid-Plumr, KC Masterpiece briquets, and Formula 409.

The product mix has been a consistent moneymaker for Clorox, which earned $444m on revenue of $4.6bn in its last fiscal year ending June 30. The company’s sales climbed 6% from the previous year, mostly because Clorox raised its prices in the United States on about half its products to offset its rising commodity costs.

Despite its size, Clorox has long been overshadowed in the household product arena by its former parent, Procter & Gamble, which has annual revenue of $68bn. P&G bought Clorox in 1957 and retained ownership until a 1969 spin-off. Unilever, with about $48 billion in annual revenue, also dwarfs Clorox.

Mr Knauss oversaw an even larger operation than Clorox in his most recent last job at Coca Cola, whose North American business generated about $7bn in revenue last year. “Clorox is strongly positioned to grow, which I find very exciting,” Mr Knauss said in a statement.