SKYY SPIRITS EXECUTIVE TEAM
Gerard Ruvo
Chairman and CEO
Gerard (Gerry) Ruvo is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Skyy Spirits, LLC, the US-based wholly owned subsidiary of Gruppo Campari and the eighth-largest sprits company in North America.
Gerry has over 30 years experience in beverage alcohol, holding positions of increasing responsibility in sales and general management before assuming his current role with the company in 2005. Gerry joined Skyy Spirits in 1998 to build a comprehensive sales structure and direct the company’s skyrocketing sales. Under his sales leadership, SKYY Vodka became the leading domestic super- premium vodka in the United States, fueled by consecutive years of growth and twelve Hot Brand Awards, the industry’s ‘Oscars.’
His prior beverage alcohol experience includes Gallo where he began as a sales representative in 1975 in upstate New York. In 1978, he joined Monsieur Henri, a division of Pepsico Inc., and was involved in introducing Stolichnaya Vodka in the United States. During the next twelve years, he advanced through a series of senior sales management positions within that company. Gerry joined Paddington in 1990 as Regional Vice President in Dallas, Texas and in 1991 he moved back to New York to become the Eastern Region Vice President; then the Vice President National Sales in 1993. In 1997, after the merger of Heublein and the Paddington Corporation, he was named VP Sales of the newly formed International Distillers and Vintners (IDV), the largest spirits company in North America.
Gerry has extensive knowledge of the spirits category and is an enthusiastic and well-respected industry leader. His charitable work includes the American Cancer Society, the Sky Ranch Foundation and the Boy Scouts of America. He has been honored multiple times for his contributions to these charitable organizations.
Gerry is a native New Yorker and graduated from the State University of New York at Cortland with B.A. and M.A. degrees. He resides in San Francisco, California with his wife Sue and has two grown children.
James McLachlan
Chief Financial Officer
James McLachlan joined Skyy Spirits in October 2005 as Chief Financial Officer. He brings more than a decade of senior-level experience in the wine and spirits industry, including significant international experience and valuable insight to the financial complexities of highly dynamic companies. Prior to Skyy Spirits, he established African Wine & Spirits as managing director and oversaw the company from 1999 to 2004. James has worked in several finance capacities with Diageo SA, Cape Town and Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
James holds a degree in African Languages and a certificate in the Theory of Accounting from the University of Cape Town. He is registered as a Chartered Accountant.
Matt Davenport
Vice President of Sales
Matt Davenport joined Skyy Spirits in 2006 as the Vice President of Sales, bringing more than 20 years of beverage sales experience to the company. Matt has held leadership positions at every tier of the value chain. Prior to joining Skyy Spirits, Matt had a successful career at Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery in Napa, California, where he quickly moved from Western Region Manager to lead the company’s sales department as Vice President of Sales. Matt learned the alcohol beverage industry from the distributor side of the business, serving in multiple leadership roles during his tenure at Young’s Market Company. Prior to working at Young’s, he worked for The Four Seasons Hotel Group.
Matt earned his Presidential & Key Executive MBA from Pepperdine University and his undergraduate degree in Hotel Administration from the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Sarah Petrik
General Counsel
Sarah Bradley Petrik joined Skyy Spirits in 2007 and brings more than 15 years of experience advising technology, consumer goods, and media companies. As General Counsel, Sarah is responsible for the legal activities related to trademarks, regulatory compliance, trade practices, litigation, corporate governance, and other matters. Prior to joining Skyy, Sarah was a co-founder and the Vice President of Legal and Administration of the web development company Laszlo Systems, Inc., where she assisted in raising multiple rounds of venture finance in addition to managing the finance, legal, and human resources functions. Before that, she was counsel at Covad Communications, a broadband services company, where she worked on regulatory affairs, antitrust litigation, and employment matters. Sarah began her career as a litigation associate at the New York law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Sarah graduated with honors from Brown University and received her law degree from Yale Law School.
