Willie Hernandez joins Coca-Cola as International GC

Willie Hernandez joins Coca-Cola as International GC

The technology veteran worked for two years as head of legal for the instant messenger app

Willie Hernandez has joined the beverages giant Coca-Cola as its international General Counsel (GC). The in-house lawyer, who worked at Facebook (now Meta), will provide legal support to the company in over 200 jurisdictions.

Hernandez, who has also served as the Vice-President and Deputy General Counsel at Hewlett Packard, mentioned, "I look forward to expanding my expertise as Coca-Cola writes its next chapter. I am truly humbled by this opportunity and the trust Monica Howard Douglas and the rest of the senior leadership team have placed in me."

The international GC role at Coca-Cola was created in 2018 when four group GC positions were consolidated under the leadership of Ben Garren, who retired in February. His responsibilities included supervising legal professionals in over 45 offices globally.

The leadership team at Coca-Cola has undergone several changes over the last couple of years. It was in the news in January when then GC Bradley Gayton, who joined from Ford, pledged to reduce the fees of advisers who failed to meet the new diversity targets at the company. However, within three months, he stood down in a consulting role.

Thereafter, Monica Howard Douglas, who had been working with Coca-Cola for 17 years, took over Gayton's position. She confirmed that her predecessor's diversity policy was never implemented.