NESTLE FIRES CEO OVER AFFAIR
After just one year in the corner office, Nestlé has fired its CEO, Laurent Freixe. The outcome is because of an investigation into an undisclosed affair.
The “romantic relationship” was between Freixe and a direct subordinate. According to the board’s findings, it breaches Nestlé’s code of business conduct.
This is the second CEO to be fired by the world's largest food company in only one year. In August 2024, former CEO Mark Schneider was fired because the board felt that he failed to cope with the challenge.
The loss of two CEOs in a year is a massive worry for the Swiss-based company and puts a lot of pressure on the newly appointed CEO.
The person facing this mountain of a challenge and no doubt pressure to perform is Nespresso CEO Philipp Navratil. Nespresso forms part of the Nestlé group.
Navratil will have to fight slowing sales, make sense out of the impact of the United States tariffs and gain investor confidence back after a dismal year.
The Nestlé affair isn’t the first CEO has been put under the spotlight for extramarital activities. Just recently, Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was fired after he was caught in a romantic situation on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, while McDonald’s USA’s CEO Steve Easterbrook was also recently fired after the board found out about his affair with a subordinate.
Image credit: People Magazine