Stephen Rust Email & Phone Number

Currently President U.S. Spirits at Diageo, a global leader in beverage alcohol committed to celebrating life every day, everywhere. Diageo has an outstanding collection of brands, and we are passionate about alcohol playing a positive role in society. In this role I oversee our expansive spirits portfolio for the U.S., inclusive of iconic brands like Crown Royal, Johnnie Walker and Don Julio. I proudly serve as the executive sponsor of our Pan Asian Network, fostering a community of employees who are part of, or interested in, AAPI culture to help educate, grow, and drive business. Previously I served as Diageo’s President of Reserve and New Business Commercialization, where I helped Diageo realize its performance ambition - to be one of the best-performing, most trusted, and most respected consumer products companies - through innovation, acquisition, advising and coaching, and ensuring a competitive route-to-market strategy in our largest market. Prior to that role served in key leadership roles at Diageo for more than a decade, where I created a high-performance culture of growth and development, driving engagement and delivering results leading Catalyst Brands, Wines, Reserve and Joint Ventures. In addition to my ongoing work within Diageo, I am deeply committed to making an impact in the communities in which we operate and serve, specifically as a governing board member of Pronghorn, a stand-alone business and a 10-Year Economic Impact Initiative to Drive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Spirits Industry. I also have the pleasure of serving as an advisory board member of Distill Ventures (DV), the world's first independent drinks accelerator, dedicated to helping founders build, scale and sell the drinks brands of the future. Since 2013 DV has provided over $300M in investment to 39 founder-led brands. I also enjoy spending time contributing to important causes including veteran affairs, autism awareness, suicide prevention, & youth mentorship. Before joining Diageo, I held a series of progressive commercial leadership roles at Schieffelin & Somerset, a premium importer of wines and spirits, culminating in leading the historic distributor integration, “Next Generation Growth,” in partnership with Diageo. This strategy served to rebalance the value chain from the manufacturing tier to the retail tier and expand distributor capability for Schieffelin, Diageo and the industry. My career began at Paddington Corporation, where I learned the importance of a deep understanding of the consumer through building my skills in the on-premise.