In a shock move this week, Unilever’s well-liked CEO announced he would step down from the top job. But why?
Hein Schumacher joined the global CPG giant in July 2023 and almost immediately gained shareholder approval as he set about overhauling the business, bringing with it positive full-year results earlier this month.
In fact, Schumacher’s strategy reset delivered Unilever’s best results in more than a decade.
Why did Schumacher step down?
A Unilever statement said the decision was by mutual agreement. There’s no indication of a falling out or misconduct, as the outgoing CEO will receive his salary until the end of May.
However, reading into chairman Ian Meakins’ comment that there is much further to go in delivering best-in-class results, city analysts believe the trigger may have been pulled as the board was beginning to lose confidence in Schumacher and wanted more.
The scenario also bears a striking resemblance to Nestlé’s CEO switch-out last year, where long-serving company man Laurent Freixe replaced an incomer.
Who is Unilever’s new CEO?
In Unilever’s case, CFO Fernando Fernandez, with 40 years in the company, will replace Schumacher at the beginning of March.
Unilever’s share price has been in the red since the announcement, symptomatic of the shock in the market, with analysts at RBC Capital telling Reuters they were “gobsmacked” at the news, having highly rated Schumacher.
It is unclear how Fernandez will steer the ship that Schumacher had so dramatically overhauled. Other than saying he’d focus on building a “future-fit portfolio”, little is known about his strategy.
Is Unilever’s new captain going to continue to turnaround or will the ship sink? We’ll keep you updated as the story evolves.