Nestle chair decides to step down early, Oct 1

Nestle Chairman Paul Bulcke will step down early and hand over to former Inditex chief Pablo Isla on Oct 1, accelerating a changing of the guard at the Swiss food giant after an unprecedented period of managerial turmoil.

- JOHN REVILL SHUBHAM KALIA

The decision comes just weeks after Laurent Freixe was abruptly fired as chief executive over an undisclosed relationship and clears the way for new CEO Philipp Navratil and Mr Isla to take full charge of the company that has struggled in recent years as sales growth stalled and debt rose.

Questions were raised about Mr Bulcke’s position by analysts and shareholders following the revelations about Mr Freixe’s romantic relationship with a subordinate, which led to his ouster just a year after he had taken the reins.

“Investors wanted a fresh start, with a new CEO and a new chairman to write the next chapter,” said Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at Bank Vontobel.

He added that Mr Bulcke had been under enormous pressure in the past few weeks and months to step aside. The recent turmoil around Mr Freixe was likely the final straw.