Heineken chief executive to step down after 15 years at the helm

Jean-François van Boxmeer, CEO of Heineken for the last 15 years, will step down and be replaced by the head of the company’s Asia Pacific region.

The owner of Tecate and Amstel has announced that Dolf van den Brink will become chief executive on 1 June 2020.

Jean-François van Boxmeer joined Heineken as a management trainee in 1984. After various international management positions, he was appointed member of the executive board in 2001. He became CEO in 2005.

“The supervisory board is grateful for the extraordinary contribution of Jean-François van Boxmeer in bringing Heineken to where it is today,” said Jean-Marc Huët, chairman of the supervisory board.

“Under his stewardship, the company more than doubled in size due to both strong organic growth and transformational deals that turned Heineken into the most global brewer, with iconic brands enjoyed by consumers on all continents.”

Van Boxmeer added: “It has been a great privilege and honour to lead Heineken and to work with so many great people from all over the world over the past three decades. I feel now is the right moment to hand over leadership to the next generation.”

Dolf van den Brink has been with Heineken for 22 years. The company said during his career “he has successfully built high performing teams in both developed and developing markets”.

Jean-Marc Huët said: “The supervisory board conducted a thorough succession process and is very happy to unanimously nominate Dolf van den Brink as the new chairman of the executive board and CEO of Heineken N.V. He has proven to be an outstanding leader and member of the executive team, winning in our markets, building great teams and growing our brands.

“Coupled with his leadership experience in all four continents, Dolf van den Brink is the right CEO for the company in the next phase of growth and development, building on Jean-François van Boxmeer’s great legacy.”