Which Coca-Cola executive bought the company from Asa Candler in 1919?

Ernest Woodruff bought The Coca-Cola Company from Asa Candler in 1919.

Woodruff was an Atlanta businessman and banker who led a group of investors in purchasing Coca-Cola from Candler. The transaction transferred control of the company after Candler had built it into a major national brand.

Ernest Woodruff’s son, Robert W. Woodruff, became Coca-Cola’s president in 1923 and guided the company for decades. Because Robert became the more famous Coca-Cola executive, people sometimes incorrectly credit him with the 1919 purchase.

The Woodruff family’s influence shaped Coca-Cola’s management, marketing, and international expansion during the twentieth century.