Coca-Cola

Quick Take

Coca-Cola is one of the heaviest corporate political spenders in the food and beverage sector, and the direction of that money has moved. In the 2020 election cycle, the giving OpenSecrets associates with the company and assigns to a party ran better than two to one Democratic; by the 2024 cycle it was close to even. Most of that associated money is individual giving by employees, executives and their families rather than corporate money, and the corporate PAC itself sent 59 percent of its candidate dollars to Republicans in 2024. Separately, in calendar 2024 the company reported $4.93 million in federal lobbying, and its disclosure filings name corporate tax bills, both chamber versions of the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, and a domestic orange juice production bill among the measures it lobbied on. The inclusion language in its annual report is unchanged from the prior year and survived the 2025 corporate retreat intact; on product policy, it added a cane sugar Coke in the months after Trump's post, without changing the original formula.

Georgia, 2016: The Religious Liberty Bill

The 2021 voting law fight was not Coca-Cola's first intervention in Georgia politics.

In March 2016, the Georgia legislature passed House Bill 757, which would have allowed faith-based organizations to decline to hire, fire, or provide services to a person when doing so conflicted with their religious beliefs. Coca-Cola spoke out against the bill, as did Home Depot and other Fortune 500 companies based in Atlanta, and the NFL warned the measure could cost Atlanta a Super Bowl. Governor Nathan Deal vetoed HB 757 on March 28, 2016, saying his decision was about the character of the state and that he did not think discrimination was necessary to protect the faith-based community. Deal said he was not responding to the business community.[1]

The Georgia Voting Law and the Backlash

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 202 on March 25, 2021. The law tightened identification requirements for absentee ballots, limited ballot drop boxes and shortened early and absentee voting windows.

Coca-Cola moved slowly at first. Its initial statement said only that the company was disappointed in the outcome and did not see it as the final chapter. It also said it had provided feedback to members of both legislative chambers and both parties during the session, opposing measures that would diminish or deter voting access.[2]

Days later, amid boycott threats and public criticism from civil rights groups, the company went further. On March 31, Chairman and CEO James Quincey appeared on CNBC and said "this legislation is unacceptable, it is a step backward."[3] Asked why the company had not spoken sooner, he said that many things get achieved privately without a public stance, but that in this case that approach had clearly not worked.[3] In April he co-led a closed meeting of roughly 25 corporate leaders and Georgia faith leaders, alongside Bishop Reginald T. Jackson of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, pressing companies to act collectively.[4]

The backlash from the other direction was immediate and local. Surry County, North Carolina removed Coca-Cola vending machines from county buildings, with commissioners objecting to what they described as large corporations pushing a left-wing political agenda on customers. Coca-Cola said its local bottler had reached out to the commissioners.[5] Georgia Republican legislators moved against Delta Air Lines' jet fuel tax break in the final hours of the session after that company's chief executive made similar remarks.[6]

Coca-Cola also declined to sign a broader multi-company statement on voting rights later that week.[7]

Where the Money Actually Goes

Coca-Cola operates a corporate political action committee registered with the Federal Election Commission as C00012468, formally The Coca-Cola Company Nonpartisan Committee for Good Government. In the 2023-2024 election cycle it raised $185,926, of which $161,918 came from individual donors giving $200 or more, and it contributed $166,650 to federal candidates. That candidate money split 59.41 percent to Republicans and 40.59 percent to Democrats.[8]

The broader organization total is much larger and points a different way. OpenSecrets recorded $1,367,724 in contributions associated with Coca-Cola for the 2024 cycle, which under the OpenSecrets two-year binning runs from January 1, 2023 through December 2024. Because the PAC accounts for only a fraction of that, the bulk is individual giving from employees, executives and their immediate family members rather than company money, along with organizational money OpenSecrets does not assign to either party. OpenSecrets recorded no outside spending by the company in the cycle.[9]

The multi-cycle picture is where the movement shows. Of the portion OpenSecrets assigns to a party, the 1996 cycle ran $262,020 to Democrats against $527,643 to Republicans, and the 2004 cycle ran $118,604 to Democrats against $239,150 to Republicans, both roughly two to one Republican. The 2016 cycle, on a total of $2,411,885, still leaned Republican at $778,475 to Democrats and $864,187 to Republicans. The 2020 cycle reversed it hard: on a total of $1,852,502, Democrats drew $763,805 and Republicans $356,139. The 2022 midterm cycle totaled $927,173, with $107,522 to Democrats and $81,576 to Republicans. By the 2024 cycle the total had fallen to $1,367,724 and the party-assigned money was nearly level, $207,276 to Democrats and $193,631 to Republicans. Older cycles are floors rather than exact counts, because employer coding is donor-reported and earlier years refresh less often.[10]

One interruption sits inside that record. In the week after January 6, 2021, Coca-Cola suspended its political giving. The company said it had been stunned by the unlawful and violent events at the Capitol and was grateful that democracy prevailed with the subsequent certification of the election results, and it added: "The current events will long be remembered and will factor into our future contribution decisions." The pause covered all of the company's political giving and named no lawmakers. Coca-Cola was one of five of Georgia's ten largest publicly traded companies to pause contributions that week, alongside UPS, Aflac, PulteGroup and WestRock.[11] The pause was temporary; the PAC was active again by the 2023-2024 cycle, when it distributed the $166,650 described above.

The company publishes its own U.S. Political Engagement Policy, which states that the PAC is funded entirely by voluntary employee contributions, that neither a contribution nor a refusal to contribute is a condition of employment, and that neither the company nor the PAC funds independent expenditures, electioneering communications or Super PACs. That last claim matches what the federal record shows.[12]

One distinction matters for anyone checking these numbers. Coca-Cola Consolidated is a separate publicly traded company, the largest United States bottler of Coca-Cola products, and it maintains its own PAC and its own OpenSecrets profile. It recorded $158,416 in contributions in the 2024 cycle, $20,800 of it from its PAC to federal candidates, and reported no federal lobbying.[13] Those figures belong to the bottler, not to The Coca-Cola Company, and should not be added together.

Coca-Cola also carries a long-running tax fight with the Internal Revenue Service. On September 17, 2015, the company received a statutory notice of deficiency seeking approximately $3.3 billion in additional federal income tax for tax years 2007 through 2009, with the IRS proposing to reallocate more than $9 billion of income from foreign affiliates to the U.S. parent. Coca-Cola petitioned the U.S. Tax Court in December 2015, the trial ran from March through May 2018, and the Tax Court largely sustained the IRS.[14] The Tax Court entered its final decision in August 2024, putting the bill at roughly $6 billion in tax and interest. Coca-Cola paid that amount while preserving its right to appeal, meaning it recovers the money if it wins. The Eleventh Circuit heard oral argument on June 25, 2026 and has not ruled. The company has told investors that an adverse outcome could cost up to $14 billion more, against a reserve of roughly $520 million.[15]

The Lobbying Footprint

Lobbying is reported separately from campaign money, by calendar year and quarter, under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Coca-Cola reported $4,930,000 in calendar 2024.[9]

Its 2024 filings name what that activity touched. The two most heavily reported items were tax bills: the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (H.R. 7024) and a bill amending the constructive ownership rules for stock (H.R. 5751), each appearing in eight reports. Next came the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2023, in both its Senate and House versions (S. 3127 and H.R. 6053), in three reports each. Also on the list: the Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act, the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act, the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act, agriculture and FDA appropriations, and the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024.[16]

Coca-Cola posts its own quarterly LD-2 filings on its corporate site. The second quarter 2024 report describes the packaging work as covering the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, the draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution, recycling in national parks, and a general "single and multi-use plastics and recycling strategy," with contacts at the House, the Senate, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Council on Environmental Quality and the Interior Department.[17] Disclosure filings record which bills a registrant lobbied on, not which side it took.

The company's public posture on container deposit systems has shifted at least once, and on the record. In February 2017, a Coca-Cola spokesman told Holyrood magazine that the time was right to trial a well-designed deposit scheme for drinks containers, starting in Scotland. The BBC reported campaigners calling it a landmark moment and noting that the firm had previously opposed similar schemes.[18]

Cane Sugar and the President

On July 16, 2025, Trump posted on Truth Social: "I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so."[19] Coca-Cola had made no public announcement to that effect. Its spokesperson responded that the company appreciated the president's enthusiasm for the brand and that details on new offerings would be shared soon.[20]

The Corn Refiners Association pushed back the same day. Its president and chief executive, John Bode, said in a statement that replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar did not make sense, that the president stands for American manufacturing jobs, American farmers and reducing the trade deficit, and that a switch would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, depress farm income and boost imports of foreign sugar with no nutritional benefit.[21] Coca-Cola issued its own defense of high fructose corn syrup the following day, saying it has about the same number of calories per serving as table sugar and is metabolized in a similar way.[22]

Six days after the post, in its second quarter earnings report, the company announced a narrower version: "the company plans to launch an offering made with U.S. cane sugar" that fall, describing it as an addition designed to complement the existing portfolio rather than a reformulation.[23] The earnings report did not mention Trump. A spokesperson confirmed the classic formula was not being replaced.[23]

The specification of United States cane sugar carries its own weight. Domestic cane sugar production is concentrated in Florida and Louisiana.[24] Coca-Cola moved to high fructose corn syrup in its American formula in 1984 on cost grounds, and cane sugar versions had long circulated through imported Mexican Coke and seasonal Passover runs.[20]

The Language That Did Not Change

The clearest measure of where Coca-Cola stands on workforce policy is what it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission after a year of corporate retreat.

In the annual report for fiscal 2025, filed February 20, 2026, the Human Capital Management section states that the company's diverse global employee base drives a culture of inclusion, innovation and growth; that the company aspires to a global workforce with diverse perspectives, experiences and backgrounds reflecting the consumers and markets it serves; that it aims to enable an inclusive culture; and that it is focused on "providing access to equal opportunities and fostering belonging" in its workplaces and communities. It states that these efforts are critical to continued growth and success, and that the company supports employee-led inclusion networks worldwide.[14]

That passage is materially identical to the language reported from the prior year's annual report, filed in February 2025, which was itself widely covered at the time as a decision to hold the line.[25][26] The company's chief financial officer said in early 2025 that Coca-Cola would follow any change in regulations at the national level.[25]

Two things are worth separating. Retaining this language is a documented company position, filed under signature with a federal regulator. It is not the same as the affirmative campaigning the company did in 2021, and the filings use the vocabulary of inclusion and belonging rather than the DEI acronym.

What Shareholders Have Been Asked to Vote On

Coca-Cola's political engagement has drawn shareholder proposals from both directions, and both times management asked investors to vote no, and both times investors did.

At the 2016 annual meeting, the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, asked the company to develop criteria for determining whether its public political positions were congruent with its stated corporate values. The group said it had been disappointed with positions Coke had taken, including on the religious liberty bill and its earlier separation from the American Legislative Exchange Council. The board recommended rejection, arguing existing policies already covered what was being requested, and shareholders rejected it.[27]

At the April 25, 2023 annual meeting, shareholders voted on Item 9, a proposal from the investor advocacy group As You Sow asking the board to publish a report on the risks and costs to the company from state policies restricting reproductive rights, and on any strategies beyond litigation and legal compliance it might use to address them.[28] The board again recommended a vote against. In its statement of opposition it said the company "has a medical travel reimbursement policy that covers a range of travel expenses" and that, at a minimum, the policy would apply to a broad range of treatments and procedures when they are medically necessary and not available in state. The proponents replied in an SEC filing that the wording left open whether elective abortion was covered, and said they had sought clarity from the company for more than three years without a response.[29] The proposal drew roughly 13 percent support, reported at the time as the weakest showing for any of that season's reproductive rights resolutions.[30] Unlike the 2021 voting law episode, the company neither campaigned nor issued a public position beyond the proxy.

Who Runs It and What It Sells

James Quincey is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and has led the company since 2017. Corporate headquarters are at One Coca-Cola Plaza in Atlanta, and the company was incorporated in Delaware in September 1919, succeeding a Georgia corporation organized in 1892.[14]

One structural fact shapes everything else. Coca-Cola itself mainly owns the brands and manufactures concentrates, beverage bases and syrups, which it sells to bottling partners. Most of the actual bottling, canning, distribution and local selling is done by independent bottlers the company does not own, which is why the payroll and the political record of the corporate entity are far smaller than the size of the brand suggests.[14]

The portfolio spans sparkling soft drinks including Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta and Fresca; water, sports, coffee and tea brands including Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Powerade, Topo Chico, BODYARMOR, Costa and Gold Peak; and juice and dairy brands including Minute Maid, Simply and fairlife. Outside the United States the company has entered alcohol directly; inside the United States it does so through a wholly owned, firewalled subsidiary behind products such as Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola.[14]

The Coca-Cola system sold 33.8 billion unit cases in 2025. Sparkling soft drinks were 69 percent of worldwide volume and Trademark Coca-Cola alone was 47 percent. The United States accounted for 16 percent of worldwide volume. The company had approximately 65,900 employees at the end of 2025, down from 69,700, a decline it attributes primarily to divestitures, with roughly 8,900 in the United States and about 400 North American employees covered by collective bargaining agreements.[14]

Recent News

Net operating revenues rose 2 percent to $47.9 billion in 2025, with gross margin of 61.6 percent, up from 61.1 percent. The company paid $8.8 billion in dividends, repurchased 9.4 million shares for $746 million, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 per share. It plans roughly $2.2 billion in capital spending in 2026.[14] Effective January 1, 2025, Coca-Cola folded its Global Ventures segment into its geographic operating segments.[14]

Where to Find Them

Coca-Cola products are sold in more than 200 countries and territories through independent bottlers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers, at a rate the company puts at 2.2 billion servings a day. Corporate headquarters are at One Coca-Cola Plaza, Atlanta, Georgia. The company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under KO and files annual reports on Form 10-K. Company and investor information is at coca-colacompany.com.[14]

Footnotes

[1] CNN, "Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to veto 'religious liberty' bill," March 28, 2016. https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/28/us/georgia-north-carolina-lgbt-bills/index.html

[2] Business Insider, "Coca-Cola, Delta, United, and 7 other companies blast Georgia's new voting law in a wave of corporate backlash," April 2021. https://news.yahoo.com/coca-cola-delta-united-7-184619737.html

[3] The Hill, "Coca-Cola CEO says Georgia voting law unacceptable and 'a step backward'," March 31, 2021. https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/545827-coca-cola-ceo-says-georgia-voting-law-unacceptable/

[4] Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Faith leaders press major entities to act," April 15, 2021. https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-atlanta-journal-constitution/20210415/281921660872261

[5] TODAY, "North Carolina county bans Coca-Cola machines after company criticizes Georgia voting law," April 2021. https://www.aol.com/north-carolina-county-bans-coca-115733014.html

[6] Associated Press, "Coke, Delta oppose Georgia's 'unacceptable' voting law," April 1, 2021. https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-denver-post/20210401/281857236333742

[7] The Independent, "All the companies opposing Georgia's voting restrictions," April 2021. https://news.yahoo.com/companies-opposing-georgia-voting-restrictions-211839361.html

[8] OpenSecrets, "PAC Profile: Coca-Cola Co," committee C00012468, 2024 cycle, accessed August 5, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/coca-cola-co/C00012468/summary/2024

[9] OpenSecrets, "Coca-Cola Co Profile: Summary," organization ID D000000212, accessed August 5, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/coca-cola-co/summary?id=D000000212

[10] OpenSecrets, "Coca-Cola Co Profile: Totals," all cycles 1990 to 2024, organization ID D000000212, accessed August 5, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/totals?cycle=A&id=D000000212

[11] CNN Business, "Corporate America halts donations to Republicans who voted to overturn the election," January 10, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/10/business/citigroup-bluecross-commerce-bank-pac-donations; and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Coke, UPS, others freeze political donations after U.S. Capitol attack," January 2021. https://www.ajc.com/ajcjobs/coke-ups-pulte-freeze-political-donations-after-us-capitol-attack/HMS5YUQ275BK3G2CI4NTETUBFQ/

[12] The Coca-Cola Company, "U.S. Political Engagement Policy," accessed August 5, 2026. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/policies-and-practices/us-political-engagement-policy

[13] OpenSecrets, "Coca-Cola Consolidated Profile: Summary," organization ID D000071873, accessed August 5, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/coca-cola-consolidated/summary?id=D000071873

[14] The Coca-Cola Company, Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission February 20, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21344/000162828026010047/ko-20251231.htm

[15] Bloomberg Tax, "Coca-Cola Meets Sympathetic Judges in $20 Billion IRS Case," June 25, 2026. https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/coca-cola-meets-sympathetic-judges-in-transfer-pricing-dispute

[16] OpenSecrets, "Coca-Cola Co Profile: Lobbying," bills lobbied 2024, organization ID D000000212, accessed August 5, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/coca-cola-co/lobbying?id=D000000212

[17] The Coca-Cola Company, LD-2 Lobbying Disclosure Report, second quarter 2024. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/policies/pdf/lobbying-disclosure-reports/2024/LD2-lobbying-disclosure-report-Q2-2024.pdf

[18] BBC News, "Coca-Cola backs Scottish bottle deposit scheme calls," February 2017. https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39055909

[19] The Independent, "Coca-Cola announces plans to launch cane sugar line in the fall after Trump promised it would return," July 22, 2025. https://www.aol.com/news/coca-cola-announces-plans-launch-153127480.html

[20] Fox News, "Coca-Cola responds to Trump ingredient swap announcement," July 2025. https://www.yahoo.com/news/coca-cola-responds-trump-ingredient-213843376.html

[21] Corn Refiners Association, "Corn Refiners Comment on Potential Product Reformulations," statement of President and CEO John Bode, July 2025. https://corn.org/cra-comment-potential-reformulations/

[22] Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, "Trump's bid to add cane sugar to Coke would cost America thousands of agricultural jobs, trade group warns," July 2025. https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-bid-add-cane-sugar-192607117.html

[23] Good Morning America, "Coca-Cola confirms a drink with cane sugar is coming," July 22, 2025. https://www.aol.com/coca-cola-confirms-drink-cane-122629617.html

[24] Axios, "Coca-Cola, responding to Trump, will launch cane sugar soda in fall," July 22, 2025. https://www.axios.com/2025/07/22/trump-coke-cane-sugar

[25] Business Insider reporting as summarized in "Coca-Cola Stands Firm On DEI Commitments, Warning Removal Could Impact Future Growth," February 21, 2025. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coca-cola-stands-firm-dei-214346347.html

[26] The Coca-Cola Company, Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission February 20, 2025. https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/filings-reports/all-sec-filings/content/0000021344-25-000011/ko-20241231.htm

[27] Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Shareholders say no to muzzling Coke's political voice," April 27, 2016. https://www.ajc.com/business/shareholders-say-muzzling-coke-political-voice/a2DfFZ9U6KKB5iUJ9NqAoM/

[28] The Coca-Cola Company, Definitive Proxy Statement (Form DEF 14A) for the 2023 annual meeting of shareowners, Item 9. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21344/000130817923000117/ko_coutesy-pdf.pdf

[29] As You Sow, Notice of Exempt Solicitation (Form PX14A6G) regarding The Coca-Cola Company Item 9, filed March 22, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21344/000121465923004109/j322231px14a6g.htm

[30] Fox News, "Coca-Cola shareholders vote down proposal that targets pro-life states," May 2023. https://www.foxnews.com/media/coco-cola-shareholders-vote-down-proposal-targets-pro-life-states