What was changed
Mars had already separated family ownership from day-to-day management, but the 2014 succession still mattered. Paul Michaels was retiring after 11 years, and the Mars board chose Grant Reid, a 26-year insider running Mars Chocolate, to take over in January 2015.
The choice favored cultural continuity plus portfolio change. Reid had run a major segment and knew the family-owned system; under him Mars pushed harder into pet health, including the $9.1B VCA veterinary acquisition announced in 2017.
By 2022, Mars' own history page described Reid's tenure as a period of growth, impact and transformation. It also said the company, still family-owned and led by non-family managers, had more than $47B in annual sales.
What it achieved
Mars says it had more than $47B in annual sales in 2022 after Reid led eight years of growth and transformation.
Why it worked
The Mars family used the board to choose an internal non-family successor rather than pulling ownership back into operations.
Reid had already proved he could grow Mars Chocolate across mature and emerging markets.
Pet care acquisitions gave Mars a second growth engine less dependent on candy categories.
What can be applied
A family company can keep long-term control while letting a deeply trained non-family operator make portfolio bets.
Aftermath
Reid retired in 2022 and handed the CEO role to Poul Weihrauch, another operating leader from Mars Petcare. That second handoff reinforced the same architecture: family ownership, professional management, and long-horizon reinvestment.
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