Muhtar Kent, outgoing chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Company,in July 2016. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Tis’ the season… for CEO changes. One week after Howard Schultz shocked the beverage industry with the announcement that he will relinquish his title of CEO of Starbucks, another beverage chief executive has said that he, too, has plans to leave his post: Coke chief Muhtar Kent said Friday that he will step down next year.