ZurichNestle Chief Executive Mark Schneider was abruptly fired by the world’s largest food maker due to the group’s poor performance, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
The company announced Schneider’s departure late on Thursday after a board meeting and named veteran Laurent Frisk as its new CEO, ending a nearly eight-year tenure for the 58-year-old German, who became the first outsider to lead Nestlé in nearly a century.
Nestle declined to provide further details beyond commenting on an investor call on Friday, during which Chairman Paul Bulcke said the board and Schneider had assessed the current environment and agreed to make changes.
Bernstein analyst Bruno Montein said Schneider had recently made it clear he intended to stay with the company for the long term.
The sudden move, he said, “is yet another piece of evidence that this is not a planned transition. It’s not even his choice, obviously. Otherwise, he probably could have made it a smoother transition.”
