Unilever said CEO Alan Jope would retire at the end of 2023, announcing the move less than a year after a bungled attempt to buy GSK’s consumer healthcare business, and two months after activist investor Nelson Peltz joined the board.
The British consumer products maker said its board would start a formal search for a successor to Jope, a Unilever veteran who took up his role at the start of 2019, considering both internal and external candidates. Unilever’s shares rose almost 4 per cent in early trading, hitting their highest since August last year. They were up 1.2 per cent at 1150 GMT.
The company’s search begins at a time of soaring food and energy prices which are hitting household budgets and hurting consumer confidence. The company will be looking for a new CEO at the same time as rival Reckitt, the maker of Dettol products and Finish dish soap. Unilever has had a rocky start to the year after mounting three bids for the consumer health arm of GlaxoSmithKline — one for as much as £50 billion ($53.14 billion).
The move was met with disapproval from shareholders, some of whom also criticised Unilever for prioritising sustainability over core growth. “This may signal more welcome future change at Unilever,” Tineke Frikee, fund manager at Unilever investor Waverton Asset Management, said.
“The unappealing plan to buy consumer healthcare from GlaxoSmithKline has tainted Jope’s track record somewhat so a fresh start from a new CEO could convince investors Unilever’s momentum is trending upwards again.”
The company in January also announced plans to cut about 1,500 management jobs and reshape its business to focus on five main product areas, days after it was revealed that Peltz, via his Trian Partners vehicle, had built a stake in Unilever. Trian told Reuters in a statement that it was sorry to learn of Jope’s decision to retire.
“As a board member, Trian’s CEO Nelson Peltz looks forward to continuing to work closely with Alan until his departure and to being part of the process of choosing a new leader for the company,” it added. A Unilever spokesperson said the company is “fully committed to the organisational changes” and that Jope is “completely committed to delivering against that strategy.”
Jope has worked at Unilever for more than 35 years, holding various senior leadership positions, including being head of the personal care division from 2014. “I think Jope’s tenure as CEO was a bit of a mixed bag,” Jack Martin, fund manager at Unilever shareholder Oberon Investments, said.