Nestl\u00e9 has dismissed its chief executive, Laurent Freixe, after an investigation into an \u201cundisclosed romantic relationship\u201d with a subordinate that was found to have breached its code of business conduct.<\/p>\n
The Swiss-headquartered multinational named Philipp Navratil as his replacement.<\/p>\n
Nestl\u00e9 said Freixe\u2019s departure after 40 years at the company followed an investigation overseen by its chair, Paul Bulcke, and lead independent director, Pablo Isla, with the support of outside counsel, into the relationship with a direct subordinate in breach of company\u2019s conduct code.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a necessary decision,\u201d said Bulcke in a statement. \u201cNestl\u00e9\u2019s values and governance are strong foundations of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freixe took over the chief executive role in September last year after Nestl\u00e9, which owns consumer goods brands including KitKat chocolate, H\u00e4agen-Dazs ice-cream and Nespresso coffee capsules, ousted his predecessor, Mark Schneider.<\/p>\n
Bulcke, who Nestl\u00e9 announced in June is set to step down as chair next year, said Navratil was \u201crecognised for his impressive track record of achieving results in challenging environments\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said Freixe\u2019s successor was \u201crenowned for his dynamic presence, he inspires teams and leads with a collaborative, inclusive management style. The board is confident that he will drive our growth plans forward and accelerate efficiency efforts. We are not changing course on strategy and we will not lose pace on performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Navratil began his career with Nestl\u00e9 in 2001 as an internal auditor. After holding various commercial roles in Central America, he was appointed country manager for Nestl\u00e9 Honduras in 2009.<\/p>\n
He assumed leadership of the coffee and beverage business in Mexico in 2013, and transitioned to Nestl\u00e9\u2019s coffee strategic business division in 2020. He moved to Nespresso in July 2024, and joined Nestl\u00e9\u2019s executive board on 1 January this year.<\/p>\n
In September 2023, the chief executive of the oil multinational BP resigned after failing to reveal relationships with colleagues<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bernard Looney was subsequently formally dismissed from his one-year notice period for serious misconduct after an investigation by the BP board and its advisers found he had knowingly misled his fellow directors when they sought assurances regarding his disclosure of past relationships and his future behaviour.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Business Today<\/p>\n Get set for the working day \u2013 we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The decision meant he was denied more than \u00a332m in pay and share awards<\/a>. Looney was replaced as CEO by Murray Auchincloss.<\/p>\n