Nestlé CEO turnover timeline explained
- Nestlé ousted Mark Schneider in 2024 after weak post-pandemic growth
- Laurent Freixe replaced Schneider but was dismissed in 2025 after an internal investigation
- Philipp Navratil, former Nespresso chief, is now Nestlé’s third CEO in two years
- Nestlé shares fell 30% under Schneider and 17% under Freixe
- Investors seek stability as leadership changes continue to impact performance
Laurent Freixe’s ‘lifer’ status at Nestlé, having served 40 years with the business, made him a market favourite when he replaced Mark Schneider (who took the role in 2017) on September 1, 2024.
But one year on and Freixe has been dismissed, sending Nestlé shares tumbling and setting tongues wagging across the industry.
Schneider, however, had it good for the first two years in the role, having joined as an outsider – the first time such an appointment had been made in near a century. Up until Schneider’s push in August 2024, industry insiders had been quoted as saying “he could do nothing wrong”. But that swiftly changed to: “Now he seems to get it all wrong.”
The former CEO had a tough act to follow, having taken the helm from long-standing chair Paul Bulcke, and during one of the most turbulent times in Nestlé’s history.
Positives during Schneider’s tenure
There were positives during his tenure. Nestlé grew margins during the Covid-19 pandemic under Schneider, despite supply chain issues and undergoing an historic company reorganisation.
But weak sales growth after the pandemic meant the board had started to lose faith Schneider, under whom Nestlé‘s new product development had become slow, Reuters reported at the time.
The former CEO was also in the hot seat as the business ramped up prices in response to market difficulties. During this time, Schneider also admitted marketing was “quite muted”, another hinderance to sales growth. This, combined with other issues, meant Nestlé‘s stock dipped around 30% in the period between the pandemic and 2022.
So then in came a ‘unicorn’ in the form of Freixe, whose long standing in the company gave him a firm view of what he had to do to succeed in the role – focus on organic growth by driving sales from the business’s core values.
But the hope and strategy were short-lived as even Freixe failed to freeze Nestlé’s sliding shares, which dropped a further 17% during his time as the boss.
A new face in Freixe
As a result, and despite his clear focus, investors quietly called for a new face to take the business in a new direction, according to industry insiders.
The decision to remove Freixe following an internal investigation into an “undisclosed romantic relationship” should perhaps come as a relief to shareholders. But it wasn’t the salve they may have hoped for and shares slid 3.2% in early trading on Tuesday (September 2).
And now a third man has entered the ring in the form of Philipp Navratil, current CEO of Nespresso, who is likely feeling additional pressure considering the circumstance and fate of those who came and went so recently before him.
The big question now is, can Navratil do what Schneider and Freixe failed to do and drive sales up at the same time as building back investor trust?
