A Man, a Can, a Plan

John Hayes, the chief executive of venerable jar maker Ball, has abandoned glass and plastic. Is he crazy—or just ahead of his time?

- Kristin Stoller

In a 4.5ha factory in Golden, Colorado, stacks of multicolored empty cans loom 15 meters over-head. Every few minutes, a forkliftzooms by to pluck future containers of Arizona iced tea, Truly spiked seltzer and Stem rosé cider. Here, 6 million can bottoms a day are forged and shipped off with tops to beverage producers. Every one is aluminum.

Ball Corporation made its name in the 1880s with glass mason jars and, in time, got into all manner of glass and plastic containers. But John Hayes, Ball’s chief executive, has sworn off those two materials. Apart from some aerospace work for the government, Ball gets all its $11.6 billion of revenue from aluminum containers—mostly for beer, soda and other drinks, along with some business in aluminum aerosol cans and in aluminum slugs for other can makers.

Isn’t this a bit risky, to make a 100% bet on metal when most of the beverage container market is still held by either glass or plastic? Maybe, but so far this bet is paying off. Vertical Research Partners’ Chip Dillon expects Ball’s earnings (adjusted for acquisitions and other things) to be up 13% this year to $876 million. Since Hayes took over in 2011, the stock market has doubled; Ball’s stock has tripled.