Nestle Dismisses CEO Laurent Freixe Over Undisclosed Romance

Nestlé SA dismissed Chief Executive Officer Laurent Freixe after just a year into the job over an undisclosed romantic relationship and named Philipp Navratil as his replacement, the latest leadership shake-up at the world’s largest food company.

An investigation showed that Freixe had an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate, according to a press release from the Swiss group on Monday. The probe was overseen by Chairman Paul Bulcke and Lead Independent Director Pablo Isla with the support of independent outside counsel.

"This was a necessary decision," Bulcke said according to the statement. "Nestlé’s values and governance are strong foundations of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service."

The abrupt change adds to the turbulence at Nestle’s helm. Freixe took over after the surprise ouster of Mark Schneider, who was let go due to sluggish performance during his nearly eight-year tenure.

Freixe’s strategy was to reignite growth and win over shoppers by boosting advertising spending and betting on fewer but bigger product initiatives. He also kicked off a strategic review of struggling vitamin brands and spun off Nestle’s waters business into a standalone unit.

Navratil, a company veteran of more than 20 years, joined the executive board at the start of this year and has been serving as CEO of Nestle’s Nespresso.

He was previously senior vice president and head of the Coffee Strategic Business Unit, where he was responsible for global strategy for the Nescafé coffee brand and the licensing partnership with Starbucks.

“I fully embrace the company’s strategic direction, as well as the action plan in place to drive Nestlé’s performance,” he said, according to Monday’s statement.