Nestlé Sacks CEO Mark Schneider, Replaces Him With Laurent Freixe

Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider was ousted in a sudden move by the world's biggest foodmaker as a result of the group's underperformance, three sources familiar with the matter told John Revill and Richa Naidu, who reported for Reuters.

The sudden decision by the board ended a nearly eight-year tenure at the helm by the 58-year-old German, the first company outsider to lead Nestlé in nearly a century. I Photo: Nestlé Flickr

The company announced Schneider's departure late on Thursday following a board meeting and appointed veteran Laurent Freixe as its new CEO.

This put an end to a nearly eight-year tenure at the helm by the 58-year-old German, the first company outsider to lead Nestlé in nearly a century, as also reported by Dave Graham and Simon Jessop for Reuters.

On Friday, Chairman Paul Bulcke said the board, together with Schneider, had assessed the current environment and agreed to make the change. Schneider had recently made it clear he expected to be around for the long haul, according to Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne.

The suddenness of the move "is another sign that this is not a planned transition. It is clearly not his choice either, or he probably would have managed a smoother transition," he said.