DENVER -- Frits van Paasschen has resigned as president and chief executive officer of Coors Brewing Co., parent Molson Coors Brewing Co. announced Friday. He has joined Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. as CEO effective September 24, Starwood said.
In an e-mail sent to employees obtained by CSP Daily News, Molson Coors CEO Leo Kiely said he will take over van Paasschen's duties until a replacement is found. Peter H. Coors, Coors Brewing executive chairman, will work with Kiely on a daily basis to oversee the operation, the e-mail said.
van Paasschen, 46, has over 20 years of experience with consumer-focused, global lifestyle brands. During his two and a half years as president and CEO of Molson Coors Brewing Co.'s largest division, Coors Brewing increased its volumes, sales, and profits. He reversed nine quarters of decline in the flagship brand, Coors Light, while growing market share and significantly improving Coors' ranking in an independent survey of distributor satisfaction.
Prior to joining Coors in March 2005, van Paasschen spent seven years at Nike Inc., where he was most recently responsible for its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and increased revenues from $2.5 billion to nearly $4 billion and doubled profits over a four-year period.
Before joining Nike in 1997, van Paasschen spent two years as vice president of finance and planning at Disney Consumer Products and earlier in his career was a management consultant for eight years at McKinsey & Co. and the Boston Consulting Group.
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