Nicandro Durante (born 13 September 1956) is a Brazilian businessman who served as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) of

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the large ...

(BAT), the world's largest

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

company by sales, from 2011 to 2019. In September 2022 he was appointed as temporary CEO of

Reckitt Benckiser Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trading as Reckitt, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the merg ...

Early life

Durante was born in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Brazil, to Italian parents. He went on to earn 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 A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

(COO), and in March 2011 became the company's first non-British CEO. During his initial tenure as CEO, BAT's shares began to climb in value, and had doubled in price by 2016. However, in 2018 BAT's share price collapsed, returning to levels last seen in 2011; it appeared that Durante had misjudged the

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...

's attitude towards

menthol cigarettes A menthol cigarette is a cigarette flavored with the compound menthol. Menthol cigarettes have been banned in several countries, including Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, Turkey, Moldova, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the US states of Mass ...

, and that BAT had overpaid in the acquisition of the

Reynolds American Reynolds American, Inc. is an American tobacco company which is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco and is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. Its holdings include R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, American Snuff Company ( ...

tobacco company minority interest in July 2017. At the time, this amounted to the largest foreign investment ever made in a US firm, costing $49 billion and "creating the world's biggest listed tobacco company". In 2015, Durante reportedly earned almost £8 million as CEO of BAT. In 2016, he asked for his salary to be raised to £10 million, claiming that he deserved another £2 million. In late 2018, BAT announced that Durante would retire at the end of March 2019. His retirement came at a highly controversial time in the firm's history. In September 2022, it was announced that Durante had been appointed as temporary CEO of

, the Anglo-Dutch multinational

consumer goods A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but ...

company, after the unexpected resignation of former CEO

Laxman Narasimhan Laxman Narasimhan (born 15 April 1967) is an Indian-American business executive who was chief commercial officer (CCO) of PepsiCo, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Reckitt. He joined Starbucks under the title "interim CEO" in October 2022, an ...

. Durante joined Reckitt's

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

in 2013, and was its senior independent director prior to becoming CEO.

Personal life

Durante enjoys smoking

cigars A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder le ...

, the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, running and playing football and tennis. He also enjoys travelling and "fine Italian food". He is married with two children.

Notes

1956 births Living people Brazilian businesspeople Brazilian corporate directors Brazilian chief executives Brazilian people of Italian descent Businesspeople from São Paulo British American Tobacco people Chief operating officers {{Brazil-business-bio-stub