After an eventful five-year tenure, Unilever CEO Alan Jope says he plans to retire by the end of next year.
The London-based consumer goods giant said it would conduct a formal search for a successor and consider both internal and external candidates.
“Alan’s retirement next year will mark the end of a remarkable career with Unilever,” said chairman Nils Anderson.
“Under his leadership, Unilever has made critical changes to its strategy, structure and organisation that position it strongly for success.”
The announcement comes less than a year after a failed attempt to buy GSK’s consumer healthcare business Haleon and two months after activist-slash-investor Nelson Peltz joined the board as one of the company’s largest shareholders.
To accelerate growth, Jope has sought to rotate the company’s portfolio into faster-growing areas like health, beauty and hygiene. However, he left a potential deal for Haleon – the owner of Aquafresh and Advil – earlier this year after receiving disapproval from analysts and investors about the pricing and strategic fit of the proposal, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In January, Unilever announced plans to cut nearly 1500 management jobs and restructure its business to focus on five major product areas, days after Peltz built a stake in Unilever via his Trian Partners vehicle.
Trian Partners told Reuters it was sorry to learn of Jope’s retirement decision.
“As a board member, 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,” said Trian Partners.
“Our immediate concern is that this leaves 15 months until his retirement with a CEO who might be seen to have lost credibility with employees and other stakeholders,” James Edwardes Jones, RBC Analyst, told Reuters.
Reuters also revealed that a source familiar with the matter said Unilever’s “unusual” decision to inform the public more than a year before Jope’s departure stems from concerns that the news would have leaked before being officially announced.
Jope has worked with the company for more than 35 years, from working as a graduate marketing trainee to holding various senior leadership positions, including becoming head of the personal care division in 2014.
“I believe now is the right time for the board to begin the formal search for my successor,” said Jope. “Growth remains our top priority, and in the quarters ahead, I will remain fully focused on disciplined execution of our strategy and leveraging the full benefits of our new organisation.”
