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Jack Bowles

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Jack Bowles
BornJuly 1963
France
NationalityFrench
EducationIPAG Business School, Paris
OccupationBusiness executive
CompanyBritish American Tobacco
TitleChief Executive of British American Tobacco (2019 to 2023)
Children3

Jack Marie Henry David Bowles (born July 1963) is a French business executive who was Chief Executive of British American Tobacco (BAT), the London-listed cigarette and nicotine products group, from April 1, 2019 to May 15, 2023.[1][2] Bowles spent almost 20 years with the company, joining in 2004 and running its businesses in France and Malaysia before serving as regional director for Western Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, and then as chief operating officer of the group's international business.[3]

Bowles was chosen in September 2018 to succeed Nicandro Durante, after what the company's chairman Richard Burrows described as a succession process with "strong external and internal candidates".[3] As chief executive Bowles set out three priorities, which he summarised as driving value from combustibles, a "step change" in the performance of the group's "New Categories" of vapour, heated tobacco and modern oral nicotine products, and simplification of the business. He introduced the corporate purpose "A Better Tomorrow", launched a cost and restructuring programme called Project Quantum that removed around 2,300 roles, and set targets of £5 billion of New Category revenue and 50 million consumers of non-combustible products by 2030.[4][5][6]

During Bowles's tenure the group's New Category revenue rose from £1.3 billion in 2019 to £2.89 billion in 2022, and the group reported 22.5 million consumers of its non-combustible products by the end of 2022.[4][7] His period in charge also included the decision in March 2022 to leave Russia and Belarus, and an April 2023 settlement of more than US$635 million with United States authorities over the group's historical business with North Korea.[8][9]

The company announced on May 15, 2023 that Bowles was stepping down from the board with immediate effect and that finance director Tadeu Marroco would replace him. The company gave no reason. Analysts described the change as unexpected, and press coverage linked it to the weak performance of the shares relative to rivals.[2][10][11] Since May 2024 he has been a director of two educational charitable trusts in London.[1]

Early life and education

Bowles was born in France.[12] Companies House records give his full name as Jack Marie Henry David Bowles and his date of birth as July 1963.[1] Bowles was educated at IPAG Business School in Paris, according to his official company biography, which does not give the dates of his studies or the qualification he obtained.[13] The company's published material says nothing about Bowles's family background or about his career before he joined the company in 2004.

Career

British American Tobacco France and Malaysia (2004 to 2009)

Bowles joined the group in 2004.[14] His company biography and the group's annual reports say Bowles became chairman of British American Tobacco France in 2005.[13][8] The September 2018 announcement of his appointment as chief executive described his first role as chief executive of the French business and dated it to 2005.[3] In 2007 he became managing director of British American Tobacco Malaysia, the group's listed Malaysian subsidiary.[3][8]

Management Board and regional director roles (2009 to 2017)

Bowles joined the Management Board in October 2009 as Regional Director for Western Europe.[14][3] The tobacco industry monitoring project Tobacco Tactics, run by the University of Bath, reports that in July 2010, while in that role, he was an official witness at the signing of an agreement between the European Commission and the company to combat illicit trade in tobacco products. Health groups and politicians criticised the Commission over the arrangement.[15]

In 2011 he became Regional Director for the Americas. In the same year he became chairman of Souza Cruz, which was then the group's listed subsidiary in Brazil.[3][13] He moved to Asia-Pacific as regional director in January 2013. It was his third regional directorship.[12][13] Tobacco Tactics records that in January 2017 Bowles led a company delegation that met Pakistan's finance minister, Ishaq Dar, and senior officials to discuss illicit tobacco. After the meeting Bowles said the government's anti-illicit trade measures "would facilitate legal and quality tobacco business as well as ensure proper taxation of such businesses".[15] When Burrows announced Bowles as chief executive in 2018, he said Bowles had "played a key role in developing our potentially reduced risk products business" as Regional Director for Asia-Pacific and later as chief operating officer.[3]

Chief operating officer (2017 to 2018)

After the group completed its acquisition of Reynolds American in July 2017, it simplified its regional structure. On August 31, 2017 it announced that Bowles would take a newly created role as Chief Operating Officer for the international business, which covered everything outside the United States, from October 1, 2017. He reported directly to the chief executive, Nicandro Durante. Under the new structure the three regional directors for Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and North Africa, and Asia-Pacific and Middle East reported to Bowles. One of them was Tadeu Marroco, who later succeeded him as chief executive. The same reorganisation folded the "Next Generation Products" business into the group's core operations.[14]

Chief Executive Designate (2018 to 2019)

On September 25, 2018 the board announced that Bowles would succeed Durante as chief executive when Durante retired on April 1, 2019. He became Chief Executive Designate on November 1, 2018 and joined the board on January 1, 2019.[3] His service contract was dated December 11, 2018.[16] City A.M. reported that the company's shares had fallen more than 20 percent since the start of 2018, that investors had criticised the company over how little it said about plans to move into electronic cigarettes, and that the shares fell a further 1.6 percent in early trading after the announcement.[17] Bowles said at the time that he was "confident that we will take full advantage of these opportunities as we accelerate the transformation of BAT into a stronger multi category tobacco and nicotine products company".[3]

Bowles was still Chief Executive Designate when he led the company's Capital Markets Day in London on March 14, 2019. There he set out plans to accelerate what the company then called its "Transforming Tobacco" agenda. The targets included New Category revenue of £5 billion by 2023/24, group revenue growth in the upper half of a 3 to 5 percent annual range, and high single-digit growth in earnings per share at constant currency.[18] The 2019 annual report said about 200 delegates attended, representing key investors and market analysts.[4]

Chief Executive (2019 to 2023)

Bowles became chief executive on April 1, 2019. Durante, who had led the company for eight years, said he had "no doubt that his broad-ranging experience and expertise, combined with his energy, passion and drive for success, will help ensure the future growth of the company".[12] In August 2019 Marroco replaced Ben Stevens as finance director, so that both executive directors on the board were new to their roles.[4]

In his first annual report Bowles wrote that he had "focused the business on three clear priorities: driving value from combustibles, ensuring a step change in New Categories performance and simplifying the business", which he summarised as "Stronger, simpler, faster". Bowles also wrote that the company was "on a journey to become a business that defines itself not by the products it sells but by the consumer needs it meets". The report said that 2019 revenue rose 6 percent at current exchange rates to £25.9 billion and that New Category revenue grew 37 percent to £1.3 billion.[4]

Project Quantum

On September 12, 2019, five months into Bowles's tenure, the company announced a programme to cut management layers, create fewer and larger business units and simplify its processes. It expected to remove around 2,300 roles worldwide, and more than 20 percent of senior roles would be affected. Bowles said: "A programme of this significance involves decisions that will be difficult for our people, but ultimately it is the right thing for our business."[5] The programme, named Project Quantum, cost £264 million in 2019.[4] In March 2020 Bowles extended it with a target of £1 billion of efficiencies over three years. By the end of 2020 it had delivered £660 million of savings, and the company reported a further £595 million of cost savings in 2021, "driven by Quantum".[6][19][20]

A Better Tomorrow

At a capital markets webcast on March 18, 2020 Bowles presented a new corporate purpose: "to build A Better Tomorrow by reducing the health impact of our business through offering a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky products for our consumers". The targets announced alongside it included 50 million consumers of non-combustible products and carbon neutrality, both by 2030. The company also created open innovation and corporate venture teams to develop products "including beyond nicotine".[6] His first annual report introduced a company "ethos" of being "bold, fast, empowered, responsible and diverse" and referred to a new corporate identity.[4]

Bowles called 2021 "a pivotal year". The company reported that New Category revenue grew by more than 50 percent at constant currency, that consumers of its non-combustible products rose by 4.8 million to 18.3 million, and that New Category losses fell for the first time. The company then announced a "Faster Transformation" phase, a £2 billion share buyback for 2022, and a target of £5 billion of New Category revenue, with the category in profit, by 2025.[20]

Russia, restructuring and the 2022 results

On March 11, 2022, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the company announced that it intended to transfer its businesses in Russia and Belarus. The group recorded charges of £612 million related to the proposed transfer in 2022. In early 2023 Bowles said the company was in advanced discussions with a consortium of local management and a distributor to complete the transfer that year.[8][7]

On January 31, 2023 the company said that, after a strategic review, it would cut its regions from four to three and its business units from 16 to 12, and that it would speed up its exits from some markets. It also created the posts of Chief Transformation Officer and Director, Combustibles. Bowles said the changes would "strengthen the foundations of our future as a category-led enterprise".[21] Presenting the 2022 results on February 9, 2023, Bowles said the company expected its New Category business to become profitable in 2024, a year earlier than planned, and expected to sell at least 20 billion fewer cigarettes once it had completed phased exits from around 30 markets.[7]

Departure

On May 15, 2023 the company announced that Bowles was stepping down from the board that day and that Marroco would succeed him. The chair, Luc Jobin, thanked Bowles "for his significant contribution as Chief Executive during this important period" and said the company had returned more than £20 billion to shareholders since the A Better Tomorrow strategy was set out in 2019. Bowles said: "It is now the time for a change of leadership to take the business to the next level ... After 20 years in the company I look forward to my next steps."[2] The company gave no reason for the change. Marroco and Bowles both stayed out of the special board meeting held in May 2023 to consider succession for the chief executive role.[22]

Bloomberg News reported that the company had "unexpectedly replaced" Bowles following a drop in its shares, and said the company was lagging rivals in the shift to smoking alternatives.[11] City A.M., citing Reuters, reported that the shares had risen about 8 percent since the start of 2019, against a 15 percent rise in the FTSE 100 over the same period. Analysts at RBC said the change made them "wonder if BAT's performance might be faltering in a way that is not immediately apparent". Russ Mould of AJ Bell said that "it's never a good look when a company says its chief executive is leaving with immediate effect", and suggested the board may have felt Bowles "wasn't doing enough to push the company's transformation efforts". JP Morgan analysts said they did not expect a broader shift in strategy.[10] The departure came three weeks after the company's settlement with US authorities over North Korea. City A.M. later reported that sources had told the Financial Times that the departure could be linked to that fine, and noted that Bowles had not been blamed for any wrongdoing in the case.[23]

After leaving the company

On May 9, 2024 Bowles became a director of two charitable companies, KT Educational Charitable Trust and Wembley Educational Charitable Trust. Both are companies limited by guarantee whose registered offices are at the cultural department of the French Embassy in London. As of November 2026, Companies House lists both directorships as active and shows no other current appointments.[1][24][25]

Leadership and management style

Bowles described himself in his company biography as "passionate about ownership, accountability and delivery and empowering our leaders across the organisation". He also said he was "a great believer in the power of diversity in BAT".[13] When Bowles was appointed, Burrows said he had a record of "growing businesses, driving productivity improvements and building strong management teams".[3]

His approach can be seen in specific changes he made. The board said that from his arrival Bowles set out "to embed a stronger, simpler and faster business culture". To support this, the board approved a revised Group Statement of Delegated Authorities, effective January 2020, which pushed decision-making authority to lower levels of the organisation and supported Quantum's aim of cutting management layers.[4] In 2019, his first year in charge, the company made more than 300 specialist hires in digital, product development, science and design. The company reported that women made up 37 percent of its management population by early 2020.[6] In March 2020 he moved the environmental, social and governance (ESG) and communications functions under the chief marketing officer, Kingsley Wheaton.[6]

The remuneration committee said in early 2020 that Bowles had "made an excellent start" and had "successfully initiated and delivered a strategic review of the Group's global operating model and organisation, re-purposing the business both in terms of its commercial focus and driving cultural change across the Group".[4]

Major deals and strategic decisions

  • Project Quantum (2019 to 2022): a restructuring announced in September 2019 that removed about 2,300 roles and was later extended to target £1 billion of savings.[5][6]
  • Dryft (2020): on November 3, 2020 the group's US business acquired the nicotine pouch assets of Dryft Sciences, which took its US modern oral range from four to 28 product variants. The products were rebranded under the Velo brand. Bowles called it "a major step forward, further enhancing our successful vaping and oral portfolio".[26]
  • COVID-19 vaccine work (2020): the group's US biotechnology subsidiary Kentucky BioProcessing began developing a plant-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate on a not-for-profit basis. The US Food and Drug Administration cleared its application to begin human trials in December 2020, and the group later created KBio Holdings in January 2022 to develop treatments for rare and infectious diseases.[27][19][8]
  • Cannabis and "beyond nicotine" investments (2021 to 2022): under Bowles the company invested in the Canadian cannabis company Organigram and in 2022 took a minority stake in Germany's Sanity Group and invested in Charlotte's Web in the United States. In 2022 it wrote down its Organigram investment by £59 million, net of tax, citing volatility in cannabis share prices. It also made investments through its venturing unit, Btomorrow Ventures.[8][7]
  • Share buyback (2022): a £2 billion buyback programme was announced in February 2022, and the company returned £6.9 billion to shareholders in 2022.[20][7]
  • Exit from Russia and Belarus (2022 to 2023): the company announced its intention to transfer the businesses on March 11, 2022 and took £612 million of related charges in 2022.[8]
  • Regional restructuring (2023): in January 2023 the company cut its regions from four to three and its business units from 16 to 12, and accelerated exits from around 30 markets.[21][7]

Financial and market performance

The company's reported results during Bowles's full years as chief executive were as follows.

Year Revenue New Category revenue Non-combustible consumers (year end) Source
2019 £25.9 billion £1.3 billion approaching 11 million [4]
2020 £25.78 billion not stated in source 13.5 million [19]
2021 £25.68 billion £2.05 billion 18.3 million [20]
2022 £27.66 billion £2.89 billion 22.5 million [7]

In 2022, his last full year, the group reported profit from operations of £10.5 billion and borrowings, including lease liabilities, of £43.1 billion. That year's reported results included charges of £612 million for the Russian transfer, £771 million for restructuring including Quantum, and £450 million for the US sanctions investigations.[7][8] The group had more than 55,000 employees when Bowles was named chief executive in 2018, more than 53,000 in 2019, and more than 50,000 in 2023.[3][4][2] Reuters, as reported by City A.M., said the company's shares had risen about 8 percent between the start of 2019 and May 2023, compared with a 15 percent rise in the FTSE 100.[10]

Remuneration

When Bowles was appointed, the board set his salary at £1,175,000, below Durante's £1,310,000. His pension contribution was reduced to 15 percent of salary, in line with the wider UK workforce. The company said these changes together cut fixed pay for the role by 21 percent and total remuneration by 15 percent.[16] From April 1, 2020 his salary was raised by 9.5 percent to £1,287,000. The remuneration committee acknowledged that this was above the range of increases for UK employees, which ran from zero to 6.5 percent.[4] His total "single figure" remuneration, as reported in the company's annual reports, was:

Year Single figure of total remuneration Source
2019 (April to December) £3.51 million [22]
2020 £4.95 million [22]
2021 £8.06 million [22]
2022 £8.99 million [22]
2023 (to May 15) £0.72 million [22]

Under his termination arrangements Bowles received pay in lieu of notice equal to 12 months' salary, £1,385,300, in monthly instalments, plus continued insured benefits. The company said Bowles was not eligible for any payment for loss of office. He received no bonus for 2023, and his long-term incentive awards granted in 2021, 2022 and 2023 lapsed in full. He kept his 2019 and 2020 long-term incentive awards, which were to be released in March 2024 and March 2025. He also received a lump sum of £1,455,917 representing his full entitlement under the company's unfunded unapproved retirement benefits scheme, a one-off payment of £109,810 related to overseas taxes, and a capped contribution of £25,000 towards legal fees. He remained subject to a requirement to hold shares worth 500 percent of his salary until May 15, 2025.[22][23]

In January 2021 the company disclosed that Bowles had pledged 213,279 of its ordinary shares as security against a personal bank loan, without affecting legal title to the shares.[28] Those shares were still pledged when he left in May 2023.[22]

Board memberships and outside roles

  • British American Tobacco: executive director, January 1, 2019 to May 15, 2023.[1]
  • Souza Cruz: chairman from 2011.[3]
  • KT Educational Charitable Trust: director since May 9, 2024.[1]
  • Wembley Educational Charitable Trust: director since May 9, 2024.[1]

The 2022 annual report listed no external appointments for Bowles while he was chief executive.[8]

Controversies

North Korea sanctions settlement

On April 25, 2023, while Bowles was chief executive, the company announced that it had resolved investigations by the US Department of Justice and the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control into business activities connected with North Korea between 2007 and 2017. The parent company entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department and a civil settlement with OFAC, and an indirect subsidiary in Singapore entered a plea agreement. The total payable was US$635,241,338 plus interest, and the company had made a provision of £450 million in July 2022. As chief executive, Bowles said: "On behalf of BAT, we deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us."[9] City A.M. reported that Bowles had not been blamed for any wrongdoing in the case.[23]

Lobbying on EU tobacco regulation

Tobacco Tactics reports that in 2011, during the European Commission's impact assessment for the revision of the EU Tobacco Products Directive, Bowles wrote to Marianne Klingbeil, acting chair of the Commission's Impact Assessment Board. He argued that an initial assessment carried out by RAND Europe did not meet "Commission standards" and enclosed an expert opinion funded by the company. According to the same source, Klingbeil replied that the Commission did not consider it necessary to run specific consultations on draft impact assessments. Tobacco Tactics presents the episode as an example of the industry using the EU's "Better Regulation" principles to try to weaken tobacco legislation.[15]

Personal life

Bowles is married and has three children. Bowles's company biography says he is "a great believer in work-life balance". It also says he is a scuba diver who has completed more than 100 dives around the world, and that he is interested in history and architecture, "particularly how societies and buildings have evolved over time".[13] Companies House lists his country of residence as the United Kingdom.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Jack Marie Henry David BOWLES: personal appointments". Companies House. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "BAT announces Tadeu Marroco as Chief Executive". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). May 15, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 "British American Tobacco announces CEO succession". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). September 25, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 "Annual Report and Form 20-F 2019". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 20-F filing). March 26, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Simplifying BAT to drive New Category growth". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). September 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "BAT capital markets webcast: Building A Better Tomorrow". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). March 18, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 "Preliminary results: year ended December 31, 2022". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). February 9, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 "Annual Report and Form 20-F 2022". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 20-F filing). March 2, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "BAT reaches agreement with U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). April 25, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "British American Tobacco appoints new chief executive as analysts predict something's 'not right' at BAT". May 15, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Hoffman, Andy."BAT Replaces CEO Bowles in Surprise Move as Share Price Lags". May 15, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Welcoming our new Chief Executive". British American Tobacco. April 1, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 "Jack Bowles". British American Tobacco. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "British American Tobacco Management Board changes". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). August 31, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 "Jack Bowles". Tobacco Tactics, University of Bath. February 11, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Annual Report and Form 20-F 2018". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 20-F filing). March 15, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  17. ↑ Keown, Callum."British American Tobacco names company man as new boss". September 25, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  18. ↑ "British American Tobacco p.l.c. Capital Markets Day". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). March 14, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "Preliminary results: year ended December 31, 2020". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). February 17, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 "Preliminary results: year ended December 31, 2021". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). February 11, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Driving Faster Transformation at BAT: Management Board changes and a new regional structure". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). January 31, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 "Annual Report and Form 20-F 2023". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 20-F filing). February 9, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 McGuire, Laura."Ex BAT chief handed £1.5m lump pension payout after exit from Lucky Strike maker". June 12, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  24. ↑ "KT Educational Charitable Trust: company overview". Companies House. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Wembley Educational Charitable Trust: company overview". Companies House. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  26. ↑ "BAT strengthens its US New Category portfolio: announces acquisition of Dryft Modern Oral business". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  27. ↑ "Chairman's AGM statement: 2020 outlook". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). April 30, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
  28. ↑ "Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 6-K filing). January 8, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2026.
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