The biggest food CEO controversies: summary
- Big Food experienced unusually high CEO turnover across past twelve months
- Departures split between planned successions and scandal driven boardroom exits
- Recurring causes include accounting misconduct relationships racism ethics and legal rulings
- Consequences often involve massive fines bankruptcies resignations suspensions share price drops
- Implications highlight governance scrutiny reputational risk and tighter oversight expectations
High‑profile leadership changes are rife in Big Food, with companies seeing unusually high CEO turnover over the past 12 months.
Some exits were planned, with retirements or the natural end of tenures prompting orderly departures from the C‑suite. Others, however, came under a cloud – and it’s these departures that inevitably attract the most scrutiny.
While the current churn at the top may feel unprecedented, high‑profile dismissals, leadership scandals and controversial boardroom exits are nothing new to the food and drink industry.
We’ve compiled the biggest top‑boss controversies to have shaken Big Food over the last 50 years.
1989: CEO steps down after bidding war at Oreo maker
Oreo and Ritz weren’t always owned by confectionery major Mondelēz. They used to be made by US tobacco and food company RJR Nabisco, Inc., and this is where we set the scene for a 1988 bidding war controversy – a year before the company’s CEO F Ross Johnson stepped down.
When Johnson was at the helm, he led a management buyout attempt that turned sour. In essence, the CEO wanted RJR Nabisco to buy the company he ran, which critics saw as a conflict of interest. Had the deal gone through, it was speculated he could have personally pocketed tens of millions of dollars. At the time, he made Time magazine’s front cover with the headline: “A Game of Greed”.
The company board ultimately rejected Johnson and his group’s bid, favouring a lower bid instead – which was said to come with more certainty. Once the bid winner, investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), had completed the takeover in 1989, Johnson resigned.
1997: Price-fixing scandal rocks agribusiness ADM
Back in the 1990s, agribusiness Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) was rocked by a scandal at the very top. CEO Dwayne Andreas became CEO in 1970 and grew sales 31-fold in 27 years, from $450m (€383m) to $14bn by 1997. In that same year, he was accused of price-fixing, and found guilty.
Although forced to pay $100m in fines, it was actually Andreas’ son who came up with the idea of creating global cartels in citric acid and lysine. While Andreas walked away, his son was sent to prison.
Much more recently, in fact just a handful of months ago, ADM faced another controversy when the company and three former executives were charged with alleged accounting and disclosure fraud. ADM agreed to pay a $40m civil penalty, and the individuals involved agreed to pay separate interest and penalties.
2012: Diamond Foods CEO resigns after claims he cooked the books
CEO of former Kettle Chips owner Diamond Foods left the top job in 2012 with no severance pay, having been accused of an accounting scandal involving another of its snacks categories: nuts.
According to the US financial regulator, Diamond Foods and its top executives made the company look more profitable than it really was. The claim made was that company CFO Steven Neil deliberately made walnut costs look lower by pushing some payments to walnut farmers into later accounting periods. It meant that Diamond Foods could report higher profits and beat Wall Street earnings forecasts in 2010 and 2011.
The SEC said CEO Michael Mendes signed off on misleading financial statements. When Diamond eventually corrected its accounts in 2012, the truth was revealed. Company share price collapsed, and Diamond and Mendes settled – the latter returning more than $4m in bonuses. CFO Neil – who was dismissed with no severance pay – did not settle, and the SEC is continuing legal action against him.
2018: Racial slur allegation prompts Papa John’s CEO exit
Pizza chain Papa John’s made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2018, when founder and chairman John Schnatter admitted to using a racial slur during a media training conference call, and apologised.
Hours later, Schnatter was submitting his resignation letter. In a statement released by the US headquartered firm, Schnatter described his language as “inappropriate and hurtful”. The statement continued: “Regardless of the context, I apologise.”
The incident wasn’t the first related to race for Papa John’s founder and CEO. Just months prior, he blamed poor sales on the decision by some NFL players to kneel during the pre-game national anthem – a move made in protest against racial inequality. Papa John’s was sponsoring the NFL at the time.
2023: Relationship scandals at McDonald’s
At fast food major McDonald’s, intimate relationships between employees in a direct or indirect reporting relationship are banned. So it was a surprise to the company when it found that CEO Steve Easterbrook had partaken in a consensual relationship with an employee.
According to news sources at the time, a further investigation revealed hidden relationships with other staff members.
Easterbrook initially received more than $105m as part of a severance package, but when the other relationships were revealed, McDonald’s launched legal action against the former CEO, who returned the money.
Unfortunately for the disgraced CEO, the debacle didn’t end there. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused him of making “false and misleading statements to investors” in relation to his departure and compensation. Easterbrook agreed to pay a $400k penalty.
2023: Bang Energy CEO ousted after Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Not long ago, Bang Energy was one of the biggest names in the drinks industry. In 2019, the energy drink brand overtook PepsiCo’s Rockstar Energy on revenue and signed a distribution deal with the beverage giant.
Trouble followed when Bang lost a false advertising lawsuit to Monster Beverage Corporation, leaving it on the hook for more than $500m. By 2022, the financial strain proved too great and Bang Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Florida.
The following year, founder and CEO John H Owoc stepped down with immediate effect. Then, in a twist few would have predicted, Monster Beverage Corporation – the very company whose lawsuit had crippled Bang’s finances – announced it would acquire the brand.
2024: Tyson Foods heir suspended for driving under the influence
Although not technically a CEO, this C-suite executive and heir to one of the world’s biggest food companies still makes the cut.
The company in question is Tyson Foods, and the individual, CFO John R Tyson, the great-grandson of the founder of the meat processing company.
In 2022, Tyson was arrested on charges of public intoxication and criminal trespass, and two years later arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and careless driving.
The company suspended Tyson of his duties immediately and named Curt Calaway as interim CFO. Later that year, Calaway was appointed permanently into the role.
2025: Kroger CEO resigns...for unknown reasons
Last year in the US, the country’s largest grocery chain Kroger announced its chair and CEO was standing down. And today, more than one year on, little remains known about the circumstances surrounding Rodney McMullen’s departure.
What is known is that the chair and CEO resigned following the Kroger board’s investigation of his “personal conduct”. Whatever was found was “unrelated to the business”, but still inconsistent with the company’s policy on business ethics.
We’ll be sure to update our reporting if and when more is revealed.
2025: Nestlé’s top job in flux as CEO hides relationship with subordinate
Another high-profile CEO departure plagued Big Food last year, when CEO of the world’s biggest food company, Nestlé, was abruptly dismissed.
After a long career at the company, Laurent Freixe finally made it into the top job. But an undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate proved to be his undoing. “This was a necessary decision,” said chairman Paul Bulke at the time. “Nestlé’s values and governance are strong foundations of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service at Nestlé.”
It has since been suggested staff complained of favouritism. Share prices dipped amid news Nestlé was undergoing yet another leadership shake-up – the company’s third CEO in two years.
Freixe was immediately replaced by ex-CEO of Nespresso, Philipp Navratil, who continues to hold the top job.
2025: Drug investigation at spirits giant Suntory
It’s not every day one hears of a drug investigation at a big-name FMCG. Let alone one that targets the chair and CEO at a beverage giant like Suntory Holdings. But that’s exactly what happened at the owner of Orangina, Ribena, and several whisky brands, last year.
Takeshi Niinami resigned from the top roles amid a police investigation into illegal drug purchases. It’s understood he had purchased several supplements on the understanding they were legal. But the supplements were suspected to contain the active ingredient in cannabis, THC.
Without awaiting the results of the investigation, Suntory released a statement saying it determined Niinami’s actions “showed a lack of awareness” regarding supplements, and that makes him “unfit” for the role of chair and CEO of its company. Following Niinami’s resignation, Nobuhiro Torii – the great-grandson of the company’s founder – was appointed chair and CEO of Suntory.
