Dive Brief:

• Graham MacKay, the legendary businessman who built SABMiller into the world's second-largest brewer, has died. The South African native had suffered from cancer, and had stepped down as CEO in April following surgery for a brain tumor.
• Following news of MacKay's death, the company named company veteran John Manser as chairman.
• MacKay was seen as an unusual combination of cerebral and competitive. He built SABMiller into a global powerhouse largely through acquisitions, including the 2002 purchase of Miller Brewing Co.

Dive Insight:

We suspect the world won't see many more business leaders like Graham MacKay, and that is a pity. He was a poor kid, raised in difficult circumstances, who worked his way up from the bottom. His first job was working on computers at a little company called South African Breweries Ltd. Today, that company is SABMiller.