Coke and Failure to Diversify

Somewhere deep in the vaults of SunTrust Bank, lies the formula for Coke.  SunTrust also serves as the trustee of a trust originally established in 1947 with Coke stock.  Some of Coke’s executives are on SunTrust’s board of directors.

The trust beneficiaries are concerned about the trust’s failure to diversify and have “begged” the bank to do so.  But, the bank has steadfastly refused.

On May 31, 2005, the beneficiaries filed suit in federal court (Hitz v. SunTrust) claiming that SunTrust has mismanaged the trust and has a conflict of interest.

See Jarrett Banks, Suntrust’s Close Ties to Coke Land Bank in Court, Corporate Legal Times, Aug. 1, 2005.

See also Jill Lerner, Coca-Cola heirs sue SunTrust, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 12, 2005.