Factbox-From Walmart to Nestle, CEO churn sweeps global consumer goods makers

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Kraft Heinz on ⁠Tuesday became the latest ⁠global ‍consumer goods company to make top-level changes this year, tapping industry veteran and former Kellanova head Steve Cahillane as its new CEO, ahead of a planned ‍split.

Here are some of the major CEO changes among global consumer goods companies ​in 2025:

Company Date of Details

Announcement

Unilever February 25 The company ousted

chief executive Hein

Schumacher, replacing

him with finance

chief Fernando

Fernandez.

Stanley June 30 The power tools maker

Black & appointed operations

Decker chief Christopher

Nelson as ​its next

CEO and president,

effective October 1,

succeeding Donald

Allan Jr., who is set

to retire.

Hershey July 8 Hershey named burger

chain Wendy's chief

Kirk Tanner as its

CEO, effective August

18, replacing Michele

Buck, who is set to

retire.

Hindustan July 10 Hindustan Unilever

Unilever named Priya Nair as

managing director and

CEO, ​replacing Rohit

Jawa well before the

completion of his

five-year term as the

company's chief.

Kenvue July 14 The Band-Aid and

Tylenol maker

fired its CEO Thibaut

Mongon, laying what

some investors expect

will be the

groundwork for an

eventual sale of the

entire company or

pieces ​of it, and

named director Kirk

Perry as interim CEO.

Diageo July 16 The Johnnie Walker

whisky and Guinness

beer maker's CEO,

Debra Crew, stepped

down after two years

in the job, ‌with

finance chief Nik

Jhangiani taking over

in the interim.

Procter & July 28 Procter & Gamble said

Gamble CEO Jon Moeller is

stepping away from

the role, to be

succeeded by Chief

Operating Officer

Shailesh Jejurikar.

Target August 20 The retailer named

longtime ​company

veteran Michael

Fiddelke as its CEO,

replacing retail

industry bigwig Brian

Cornell, effective

February ⁠1, 2026.

Nestle September 1 Nestle dismissed its

CEO, Laurent Freixe,

a year after

appointing him,

following an

investigation into an

undisclosed romantic

relationship with a

direct subordinate

that breached the

company's code of

conduct. Freixe was

replaced by Philipp

Navratil, ‌CEO of

Nestle Nespresso, on

September 1.

Walmart November 14 The company said Doug

McMillon, who has

been heading the

retail bellwether

since 2014, will

retire in January

2026. John Furner,

McMillon's successor,

currently serves as

CEO of Walmart U.S.

and has held

leadership roles at

the company.

Kohl's November 24 Kohl's Corp named

Corp retail veteran

Michael Bender ‌as its

permanent CEO, after

he served as the

interim chief since

May. Bender replaced

Ashley Buchanan, who

was fired for a

personal relationship

with a ‌vendor.

Coca-Cola December 10 Coca-Cola named COO

Henrique Braun as its

new CEO, effective

March 31, 2026. Braun

succeeds James

Quincey, who is

stepping down after

nine years at the

helm.

Altria December 11 Altria announced

that CEO Billy

Gifford, who has led

the tobacco giant

since 2020, will

retire, effective May

14, 2026. The tobacco

giant announced

Gifford will ‍be

succeeded by finance

head Salvatore

Mancuso.

Lululemon December 11 Lululemon Athletica

Athletica LULU.O said its CEO

Calvin McDonald will

step down in January

after about seven

years at the helm.The

company named its

finance chief Meghan

Frank and ⁠chief

commercial officer

André Maestrini as

co-interim CEOs while

it searches for its

new boss.

December 16 Kraft

Kraft Heinz

Heinz named

industry

veteran and former

Kellanova head, Steve

Cahillane as its new

CEO, ahead of the

packaged food giant's

split.

Cahillane

will join the new

role on January 1,

succeeding Carlos

Abrams-Rivera, who

will serve as an

advisor until March

6.

(Reporting by Neil J Kanatt, Sanskriti Shekhar and Koyena Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrea Ricci, Anil D'Silva and Alan Barona)

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