Ousted Nestle CEO Laurent Freixe Promoted Colleague With Whom 'He Had An Affair': Report

Laurent Freixe, the former Chief Executive Officer of Nestle, reportedly promoted a junior employee with whom he was involved in a romantic relationship. Freixe was dismissed from his role as CEO of the Swiss food conglomerate earlier this week after investigations revealed he had an undisclosed romantic relationship with a colleague.

According to the Swiss newspaper Blick, he promoted a marketing executive to oversee a regional division in 2023. It was the same person he was having an affair with and the individual was directly reporting to him, claims the report.  It later came to light that Freixe was involved in a romantic relationship with the woman, although it remains uncertain whether the relationship was ongoing at that particular time.

Freixe reportedly first met the employee in 2022 when she was transferred to the company’s headquarters. Before this, she reportedly spent two decades at Nestle and held various marketing positions within the firm. At the time they met, Freixe was serving as Executive Vice President. He was elevated to the role of Chief Executive Officer in September 2024, taking charge of the entire company.

Freixe, who served Nestlé for nearly four decades, was dismissed following an investigation carried out by an independent law firm that uncovered his undisclosed affair. The inquiry was reportedly launched after employees raised concerns of alleged favouritism via the company’s internal whistleblowing system.

According to various reports, Laurent Freixe’s wife, Agata Balcerowska, works as an account director at Publicis. Blick reports that the pair became acquainted while she was employed at Nestle. Nestle's Board of Directors appointed Philipp Navratil as CEO following Laurent Freixe’s dismissal.

"This was a necessary decision. Nestlé's values and governance are strong foundations of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service at Nestle,” said Chairman Paul Bulcke. At the time Freixe was removed, he had been working to reverse a prolonged decline in Nestle’s share price and sluggish sales growth.