The Swiss agrifood giant Nestlé announced on Monday the dismissal with immediate effect of its director general Laurent Freixe, due to “not declared romantic relationship with a direct subordinate”.
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“It was a necessary decision. The values of Nestlé and good governance constitute the solid foundations of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service, “said the chairman of the board of directors Paul Bulcke in a statement.
The Frenchman Laurent Freixe had been appointed managing director in September 2024 of this group who owned more than 2,000 brands, including the Nespresso coffee pods or the Kitkat chocolate bars.
The multinational specified that its dismissal followed an investigation that highlighted this “undeclared romantic relationship”, which constitutes “an offense to the code of good professional conduct of Nestlé”.
“In accordance with good corporate governance practices, the board of directors ordered that a survey is conducted, supervised by Paul Bulcke […] And Pablo Isla, Lead Independent Director, with the support of independent external legal advisers, ”adds the company.
Hired by Nestlé in France in 1986, Laurent Freixe had led European activity during the 2008 financial crisis, a position occupied until 2014, then the Latin America division before being promoted to managing director in September 2024.
Replaced by the boss of Nespresso
The press release announced its replacement by Philipp Navratil, boss of Nespresso since July 2024, which then joined the board of directors in January 2025.
At the end of July, the Swiss giant had maintained its forecasts for 2025 despite the macroeconomic uncertainties, between the deflationary environment in China which slowed down its sales in the first half and a climate of fragile consumption on the American continent.
In the first half, its net profit dropped from 10.3% to 5.4 billion euros, for a turnover in withdrawal of 1.8%, below forecasts.
He also announced the launch of a strategic examination of his vitamin and food supplements activities, adding that he progressed in the strategic evaluation of his bottled waters, shaken by a scandal in France and Switzerland around microfiltration processes prohibited for mineral waters.
Nestlé is not the first multinational to make such a decision. In September 2023, it was Bernard Looney, managing director of BP, one of the majors “of oil, who had resigned, accused of having hidden” personal relations “with several colleagues.
Other large bosses had been before him forced to resign for similar reasons. In May 2021, the Wall Street Journal wrote that the departure of Bill Gates of the Microsoft software giant, in March 2020, would be linked to a relationship deemed “inappropriate” with an employee in the early 2000s. The co -founder of Microsoft had claimed to leave the board of directors to devote himself to his foundation.
In November 2019, it was McDonald’s who had forced its managing director Steve Easterbrook to leave the company, following an affair with an employee, certainly “agreed”, but contrary to the rules of the company.
A year later, the giant of fast-food had decided to continue him to recover the tens of millions of dollars in dismissal compensation paid, accusing him of having hidden other links, including sexual relations with three other staff members. In December 2021 he agreed to give the company more than $ 105 million in dismissal allowances.
In June, Nestlé had informed that her board of directors would propose his vice-president, Pablo Isla, to the presidency during the general meeting of April 2026, replacing Paul Bulcke, in place for almost nine years.
