Nestlé plunges into crisis after second CEO departure in 12 months

In a dramatic turn of events that’s left the business world reeling, Nestlé has shown the door to CEO Laurent Freixe – marking their second chief executive dismissal in just over a year. The Swiss food giant’s shares took a hit, dropping 2% in Zurich trading on Tuesday, after news broke that Freixe was terminated over an inappropriate relationship with an employee, Reuters reports.

The departure of Freixe, a company veteran of nearly 40 years, comes without a golden parachute. Stepping into the hot seat is Philipp Navratil, an up-and-coming executive at the company known for beloved brands like Nescafé and KitKat.

This latest bombshell follows a string of high-profile exits, including former CEO Mark Schneider’s departure last year and chairman Paul Bulcke’s planned retirement in 2026 – creating unprecedented leadership chaos in Nestlé’s century-and-a-half history.

The company’s stock has been in freefall, shedding roughly a third of its value in five years, with a painful 17% drop during Freixe’s short stint at the helm. Investors are increasingly jittery about lagging sales and stalled reform efforts, particularly concerning the company’s struggling vitamins division.

Adding to Nestlé’s headaches, last year Foodwatch France dropped a bombshell, claiming the company was passing off contaminated water as natural mineral water. While Nestlé firmly denied these allegations to Mediapart, subsequent media reports suggested their water sources contained everything from fecal bacteria and E. coli to pesticides. Mediapart alleged that Nestlé’s response was simply to filter this tainted water before marketing it as mineral water.