Nestle Announces New CEO

Nestle S.A. has appointed Ulf Mark Schneider of Fresenius Group as its new CEO.

The Board of Directors will propose Paul Bulcke, Nestle’s current CEO, for election as Chairman at the next Annual General Meeting in April 2017, as Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman of the Board of Directors will retire and will relinquish all his Board functions, having served Nestl for 50 years. The new appointments are expected accelerate Nestle’s journey to become a preeminent player in the Nutrition, Health and Wellness sector.

In order to prepare for this future role as active, non-executive Chairman and respect a minimum cooling-off period, Bulcke will resign from his present position as CEO on December 31, 2016. Bulcke was appointed CEO and member of the Board of Directors on 10 April 2008 and, under his successful leadership at the helm of the company for over 8 years, Nestle has made further progress in its journey to Health and Wellness.

Ulf Mark Schneider, 50 years old and a German and U.S. citizen, has been CEO of Fresenius Group since 2003. He is a graduate of the University of St. Gallen with both a graduate and a doctoral degree, and also holds a Harvard Business School MBA.

Fresenius, which offers high-quality products and services for dialysis, hospitals and outpatient treatments, has prospered strongly under the leadership of Schneider over the past 13 years. Today, with over 220,000 employees in more than 100 countries and annual sales €28 billion, Fresenius is one of the world’s leading diversified healthcare companies.

In order to ensure a smooth hand-over phase, Schneider will join Nestle on September 1, 2016 for an introductory period.

According to the company, "together with Paul Bulcke, who is highly experienced in the area of fast moving consumer goods, the new team is ideally suited to accelerate Nestle’s journey to become the world’s preeminent Nutrition, Health and Wellness company whilst fostering Nestl’s values and principles."