Essay Archive - Coke
Coke
Inside the chairman’s office on the 25th floor of Coca-Cola’s stately headquarters in Atlanta, in the top left-hand drawer of his desk, Roberto Goizueta has for many years kept two charts. One describes Coca-Cola’s fundamental business: selling the concentrate that transforms fizzy water into Coke. The diagram plots the four reasons Goizueta adores the business: (1) Selling concentrate requires little capital; (2) it produces superb returns; (3) it demands minimal reinvestment; (4) it spills an ocean of cash.
One day recently, Coca-Cola’s cerebral chairman and CEO was asked to pull out the second chart. This one illus....
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