---
schema_version: "secwatch.filing_event.v1"
accession: "0000014693-23-000034"
form_type: "8-K"
ticker: "BF-A"
cik: "0000014693"
company_name: "BROWN FORMAN CORP"
filed_at: "2023-05-31T23:59:59+00:00"
generated_at: "2026-06-14T10:21:13.108235+00:00"
event_type: "leadership"
sentiment: "neutral"
materiality_score: 0.2
calibrated_materiality_score: 0.2
confidence: "high"
source: SEC EDGAR
---

# Lead Independent Director John D. Cook will not seek re-election at 2023 Annual Meeting after 15 years on board

## Summary
- John D. Cook notified Brown-Forman on May 24, 2023 of his decision not to stand for re-election.
- He served nearly 15 years as a director and over 10 years as the company's first Lead Independent Director.
- Cook will remain a director until the 2023 Annual Meeting; no successor has been announced.
- The departure is a planned non-re-election after long tenure, not a resignation over disagreement.

## SEC filing metadata
- accession: 0000014693-23-000034
- form_type: 8-K
- ticker: BF-A
- cik: 0000014693
- company_name: BROWN FORMAN CORP
- filed_at: 2023-05-31T23:59:59+00:00
- event_type: leadership
- sentiment: neutral
- materiality_score: 0.2
- calibrated_materiality_score: 0.2
- confidence: high
- sec_items: 5.02
- EDGAR index: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/14693/000001469323000034/0000014693-23-000034-index.htm
- EDGAR primary document: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/14693/000001469323000034/bfb-20230524.htm

## Machine-readable alternates
- HTML: https://secwatch.observer/filing/0000014693-23-000034
- JSON: https://secwatch.observer/filing/0000014693-23-000034.json
- Plain text: https://secwatch.observer/filing/0000014693-23-000034.txt

## Key facts
- Executive change
  John D. Cook departed as Lead Independent Director and member of the Board of Directors at BROWN FORMAN CORP.
  - Action: not stand for re-election
  - Role: Lead Independent Director and member of the Board of Directors
  source text: John D. Cook, the Lead Independent Director and a member of the Board of Directors (“Board”) of Brown-Forman Corporation (the “Company”), notified the Company of his decision not to stand for re-election to the Board at the Company’s 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”)
  evidence_url: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/14693/000001469323000034/0000014693-23-000034-index.htm

This AI-assisted summary is a reading aid. Review the linked SEC EDGAR filing before relying on any specific claim.