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Nestlé Chairman Paul Bulcke steps down earlier than planned

Nestlé Chairman Paul Bulcke steps down earlier than planned
Nestlé Chairman Paul Bulcke steps down earlier than planned Keystone-SDA

There is another major departure from the management of the Nestlé food group. Chairman of the Board of Directors Paul Bulcke is now stepping down early. His departure follows the dismissal of Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe at the beginning of September.

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The pressure on 71-year-old Bulcke was apparently too great after the second departure of a Nestlé CEO within a year. Bulcke’s designated successor, Pablo Isla, will now take over the chairmanship of the food company on October 1, as Nestlé announced on Tuesday.

According to the original plan, the current Nestlé Vice-Chairman Isla would not have been elected as the new Chairman until the Annual General Meeting on April 16, 2026.

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Freixe

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Workplace

Whistleblowing platform led to dismissal of Nestlé CEO

This content was published on Laurent Freixe was removed from the top job at Nestlé because of an “undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate”. It was the company’s anonymous reporting platform Speak Up that first raised the alarm.

Read more: Whistleblowing platform led to dismissal of Nestlé CEO

“Now is the right time for me to step back and accelerate the planned transition,” Bulcke is quoted as saying in the Nestlé press release. Pablo Isla and the new CEO Philipp Navratil could now drive Nestlé’s strategy forward and lead the company with new perspectives.

Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe was forced to resign at the beginning of September due to a concealed affair with a direct subordinate at the beginning of September 2025. Shareholders subsequently accused Bulcke of a lack of sensitivity when making personnel decisions.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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