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Unilever (UL) stock is in focus after an unexpected announcement of a C-suite shake-up. CEO Hein Schumacher will step down after less than two years in the role with current CFO Fernando Fernandez set to take over as chief executive on March 1.
The change comes amid pressure from activist investors to accelerate the consumer goods company's turnaround efforts. Unilever is the parent company of brands like Ben & Jerry's, Axe, and Vaseline, among others.
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This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.
Unilever announcing a leadership change in the coming days. The company's current chief financial officer, a 37-year company veteran, will replace its current CEO on March 1st. The current CEO will stay on to help oversee the transition until May 31st here. Uh, and it doesn't sound like this was entirely expected here. This comes after Heinz Schumacher was in the position for less than two years. Uh, the board doesn't sound like they were satisfied with how quickly some of the restructuring was taking place there.
They were, and they wouldn't I I think you can make the argument that they didn't really give him a chance to really embark on this turnaround strategy for being there less than two years. Yeah, and we also know that Unilever has been under a tremendous amount of pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz. Now, he has been very vocal initially. He was very much in support of Hein Schumacher when he initially took over as CEO. Obviously, has had a little bit of a change of heart. So, this coming now after the board ousted him as CEO again, less than two years on the job. And you mentioned the fact that this came as a bit of a surprise. RBC saying, quote unquote, that they were gobsmacked by the news. They didn't see this coming at all. So, I think that, and that line explains it all.
Two years is short for CEO.