An undisclosed romantic relationship with an employee cost Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe dearly: just a year after taking office, he was fired by the group, which replaced him with Philipo Navratil.

The decision, the Swiss giant announced, came after an investigation conducted by Chairman Paul Bulcke and independent director Pablo Isla, with the support of an external consultant, which confirmed Freixe's relationship with a direct subordinate: behavior deemed a violation of Nestlé's code of conduct. This incident follows the much more media-rich incident this summer involving high-tech company Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his human resources manager, who were photographed embracing at a Coldplay concert.

"This was a necessary decision. Nestlé's values and governance are the solid foundation of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service to Nestlé," Bulcke emphasized in a statement.

Philipp Navratil "is known for his impressive results achieved in challenging environments," added the chairman of the group, which boasts a portfolio of 2,000 brands, including Perugina in Italy. Navratil is a veteran of the group, having joined in 2001 and held various positions, landing in 2020 as head of the division that handles Nescafé and Starbucks and then in 2024 as CEO of Nespresso. He has been a member of the board since January of this year.

Freixe arrived a year ago to reinvigorate the group's performance after Mark Schneider's eight-year tenure, whose performance and some of his strategic choices he had criticized.

(Unioneonline)