Coca-Cola vs TotalEnergies: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Coca-Cola and TotalEnergies side by side

1. 1892Coca-Cola

   The Coca-Cola Company Founded

   Asa Griggs Candler incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta in 1892 after acquiring rights connected to John Pemberton's original formula.

2. 1899Coca-Cola

   National Bottling Rights Granted

   In 1899, Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead secured rights to bottle Coca-Cola across much of the United States. The deal looked less important than the fountain business at first, but it became the foundation of Coca-Cola's physical reach.

3. 1915Coca-Cola

   Contour Bottle Introduced

   Coca-Cola introduced the contour bottle design in 1915 to make the product recognizable and harder to imitate. At a time when copycat colas were common, the bottle gave consumers a visual and tactile cue that they were buying the real product.

4. 1919Coca-Cola

   Company Sold for $25 Million

   In 1919, the Candler family sold Coca-Cola to a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff for $25 million. The transaction signaled that Coca-Cola had become a valuable national business rather than a regional success.

5. 1924TotalEnergies

   Compagnie Francaise des Petroles founded

   The French state-backed oil company was created to secure access to petroleum resources and became the predecessor of TotalEnergies.

6. 1928Coca-Cola

   Olympic Sponsorship Begins

   Coca-Cola began its Olympic sponsorship in 1928, linking the brand to international sport and public celebration. The partnership mattered because it gave Coca-Cola a platform that crossed language and national boundaries.

7. 1954TotalEnergies

   Total Brand Created

   The company created the Total brand in 1954 to build a retail distribution network.

8. 1985Coca-Cola

   New Coke Reversal

   Coca-Cola introduced New Coke in 1985 after taste tests suggested a sweeter formula could compete more effectively with Pepsi. Consumers rejected the change because the original product had emotional and cultural value beyond flavor.

9. 1995TotalEnergies

   Thierry Desmarest becomes CEO

   Thierry Desmarest became CEO of TotalEnergies in 1995. Led Total from 1995 to 2007 and engineered the Petrofina and Elf Aquitaine combinations; remained Chairman until 2010.

10. 1999TotalEnergies

    Petrofina acquired; Elf Aquitaine follows in 2000

    Total combined with Belgium's Petrofina in 1999 and Elf Aquitaine in 2000, operating as TotalFinaElf before reverting to Total in 2003.

11. 2000TotalEnergies

    Elf Aquitaine Acquired

    Total acquired Elf Aquitaine in 2000, forming TotalFinaElf.

12. 2007TotalEnergies

    Christophe de Margerie becomes CEO

    Christophe de Margerie became CEO of TotalEnergies in 2007. CEO from 2007 and Chairman from 2010 until his death in a plane accident at Moscow's Vnukovo airport in October 2014.

13. 2008Coca-Cola

    Muhtar Kent Becomes CEO

    Muhtar Kent became CEO in 2008 during a period when emerging markets, bottler alignment, and category diversification were becoming more important.

14. 2009Coca-Cola

    Freestyle Fountain System Unveiled

    Coca-Cola unveiled Freestyle in 2009, giving foodservice customers a fountain dispenser with more than 100 beverage choices.

15. 2011TotalEnergies

    Acquired SunPower (majority stake)

    TotalEnergies acquired SunPower (majority stake).

16. 2017Coca-Cola

    Topo Chico Joins the Portfolio

    Coca-Cola acquired Topo Chico in 2017, adding a premium sparkling mineral water brand sourced from Cerro del Topo Chico in northern Mexico.

17. 2017Coca-Cola

    James Quincey Becomes CEO

    James Quincey became CEO in 2017 and accelerated the push toward a total beverage strategy. He emphasized revenue growth management, zero-sugar products, refranchising discipline, and fewer but stronger brands.

18. 2018TotalEnergies

    Direct Energie acquired

    Total bought French power and gas retailer Direct Energie, the base of its European retail electricity business.

19. 2019Coca-Cola

    Costa Coffee Acquisition

    Coca-Cola completed the Costa Coffee acquisition in 2019, adding a coffee platform with retail stores, Costa Express vending, for-home formats, and ready-to-drink potential.

20. 2021Coca-Cola

    BodyArmor Full Acquisition

    Coca-Cola acquired full control of BodyArmor in 2021 in a transaction valued at about $5.6 billion for the remaining stake. The deal deepened Coca-Cola's position in sports drinks, a category long led by PepsiCo's Gatorade.

21. 2021TotalEnergies

    Total becomes TotalEnergies

    The company changed its name to TotalEnergies to reflect a broader multi-energy strategy spanning oil, gas, electricity, renewables, and low-carbon energy.

22. 2023Coca-Cola

    $45.8B Revenue

    In FY2023, Coca-Cola reported $45.8 billion in revenue, continuing its recovery from the pandemic-era decline in away-from-home channels.

23. 2024Coca-Cola

    $47.1B Revenue

    In FY2024, Coca-Cola reported $47.1 billion in revenue, with organic performance supported heavily by price/mix and concentrate sales timing.

24. 2025Coca-Cola

    $47.9B Revenue and 65,900 Employees

    In FY2025, Coca-Cola reported $47.9 billion in revenue and $13.1 billion in net income. Its 2025 Form 10-K listed about 65,900 company employees at year-end, down from about 69,700 in 2024 because of divestiture activity.

25. 2025TotalEnergies

    2025 results

    Revenues from sales of $182.344 billion, adjusted net income of $15.6 billion (down 15%), IFRS net income of $13.127 billion and a €3.40 dividend.

26. 2026TotalEnergies

    Mozambique LNG full restart

    On January 29, 2026, Patrick Pouyanné and President Daniel Chapo announced the full restart of the roughly $20 billion Mozambique LNG project after force majeure was lifted in November 2025.

27. 2026TotalEnergies

    Q2 2026 results

    Adjusted net income of $6.0 billion and cash flow of $9.8 billion in the second quarter as higher oil prices tied to the Middle East conflict lifted earnings.

Acquisitions

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