Brown-Forman announces corporate restructure; to cut over 600 jobs

Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman Corporation has announced a series of measures including the restructuring the executive leadership team and an approximately 12 per cent reduction in its global workforce.

The company will also close its Louisville, US-based barrel-making operation, Brown-Forman Cooperage.

“In 2025, Brown-Forman celebrates 155 years of delivering Nothing Better in the Market. We have achieved this impressive milestone in part because of our relentless focus on evolving our strategy, our portfolio, and our organisation to grow and thrive,” said Lawson Whiting, president & chief executive officer.

“Today’s announcement will ensure we have the structure and teams in place to continue on this path, while also making investments that we believe will facilitate growth for generations to come.”

Brown-Forman has restructured its executive leadership team, consolidating and streamlining its commercial structure to leverage greater synergies and effectiveness in its markets.

Under the changes, Jeremy Shepherd has been named chief marketing officer. Shepherd previously led the company’s USA & Canada commercial division.

Michael Masick has been named president, Americas. Masick will continue commercial leadership for Mexico, South and Central America, and the Caribbean. In his expanded role, he will add USA & Canada to his remit.

Yiannis Pafilis has been named president, Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific. Pafilis currently leads teams across Europe. In this expanded role, he will add Africa, the Asia Pacific region, and global travel retail.

Chris Graven has joined the executive leadership team as chief strategy officer. Graven has held roles in Brown-Forman’s HR, finance, marketing, and commercial organisations in her 20 years with the company.

Brown-Forman said it has made the “difficult decision” to reduce its global workforce by approximately 12 per cent of its 5,400 employees worldwide. The company added that it is “deeply committed” to supporting departing employees with comprehensive transition agreements.

The closure of Brown-Forman Cooperage, set to take effect by 25 April, is expected to impact approximately 210 hourly and salaried employees, part of the overall 12 per cent workforce reduction. The company added that it will source barrels from an external supplier in future.

Collectively, these actions are projected to deliver approximately $70 to $80 million (£65m) in annualised cost savings, a portion of which is expected to be reinvested to accelerate growth. In addition, the company will receive more than $30 million in proceeds in connection with the sale of the cooperage assets. The company expects to incur approximately $60 to $70 million in aggregate charges for severance and related costs associated with the workforce reduction and cooperage closing.

“I want to express my sincere gratitude to our employees, particularly those impacted by these changes, for their dedication and contributions to Brown-Forman,” said Whiting. “We are committed to supporting them through this transition and are confident that these strategic initiatives will ensure the company endures for generations to come.”