Laurent Freixe

Laurent Freixe
Freixe in 2025
Born
Laurent François Charles Freixe
(1962-04-21) 21 April 1962
Paris, France
EducationEDHEC Business School
Years active1986-2025 (CEO 2024–2025)
EmployerNestlé
PredecessorUlf Mark Schneider
SuccessorPhilipp Navratil
SpouseAgata Balcerowska

Laurent Freixe (born 21 April 1962) is a French business executive. After more nearly four decades at Nestlé,[1] be became its chief executive in 2024, until losing the position about a year later, in September 2025.[1]

Early life

Born Laurent Henri Bruno Freixe on 21 April 1962 in Paris, France,[2] Freixe grew up in Paris, a child of parents that were electrical engineers. As a youth, Freixe was a competitive handball player, winning a French championship when he was sixteen years old.[3]

After university, Freixe earned a Master in Management in 1985 from the EDHEC Business School, graduating from its Grande Ecole programme,[4] at its Lille campus, where his emphasis was marketing.

Career

Freixe began at Nestlé in 1986;[1] his early responsibilities included negotiating contracts with grocery stores. He worked in market research, then as a brand manager for the Dairy and Nutrition division. He helped Nestlé beat competitor Captain Iglo in the fish sticks market with a new fish sticks brand he launched called Croustibat. He also helped the struggling French snacks division rebound by making large cuts to the overstaffed division.

At age 37, Freixe became the head of the Dairy and Nutrition Division for Nestlé France for three years, before moving to Hungary where he was the head of the Spanish and Portuguese markets for two years[5]. In 2008, Freixe was invited to take over as the head of Europe[6]. Freixe helped grow the Nestlé coffee brand Nescafé Dolce Gusto to billions in annual revenue. As head of Europe, he developed his approach to management, which he refers to as a "virtuous circle." In 2014, he was put in charge of the Americas at Nestlé.

In May 2018, Laurent Freixe was appointed International Youth Ambassador by the Ibero-American Youth Organization[7], and in October 2023 he received the Order of Merit from the Peruvian Vice Minister[8].

On 1 September 2024, Freixe succeeded Ulf Mark Schneider as chief executive of Nestlé.[9][10] He reversed the planned restructure, increased spending on advertising, and cut costs by a few hundred million euro per year.[10][11] Freixe refocused the company on core brands including Nescafé, KitKat and Fancy Feast, and promised to reinvest in areas with more-promising growth products, such as cold coffee.[1] Freixe also said he was going to reduce the company's pace of acquisitions.[12] He also restarted the company's 60/40 rule, whereby Nestlé only releases products where blind taste-testing experiments show at least 60 percent of consumers prefer it over competing products.

On 1 September 2025, Nestlé announced the immediate dismissal of Freixe citing an undisclosed romantic relationship with an employee that violated the company's code of conduct.[13] The dismissal came following an investigation by the company's board.[13] Freixe did not receive any remuneration on exit and was replaced by Philipp Navratil.[14][15]

Personal life

Freixe is married to Agata Balcerowska, who is a senior executive at Publicis.[16]

Further reading

  • EDHEC Staff (3 September 2024). "Laurent Freixe, EDHEC Master 1985, Becomes CEO of Nestlé". EDHEC.edu. Roubaix, France: EDHEC [École des Hautes Études Commerciales du Nord] Business School. Retrieved 29 December 2025. Nestlé has announced the appointment of a new CEO: Laurent Freixe, who graduated from EDHEC Business School in 1985, will take over as head of the world's largest food group. See also this link, for the meaning of the abbreviated school title.

References

  1. ^ abcdWallace, Joe & Patrick, Margot (3 September 2025). "Nestlé CEO's Unraveling Started With a Tip to Employee Hotline". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 3 September 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^"Biographie de Laurent Freixe, Président de société - Who's Who". www.whoswho.fr (in French). Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  3. ^Ruschmann, Dirk (27 February 2025). "Kriegt Nestle unter Laurent Freixe die Kurve". Bilanz (in German). Retrieved 29 December 2025. Handball ist ein Sport für harte Jungs. Am Kreis wird ordentlich ausgeteilt, Ellbogen wischen über gegnerische Gesichter, Hände ziehen an Trikots und halten Wurfarme fest. Laurent Freixe war mit 16 französischer Meister im Handball, im Jahr darauf noch einmal Vize. Mit Nahkampf hat der Mann Erfahrung. / Das widerspricht dem Stereotyp, Freixe sei ein freundlicher Mensch der leisen Töne – doch auch die beherrscht er. Bei der Vorbereitung seines ersten Kapitalmarkttages als CEO im vergangenen November liess er während der Probe nur vereinzelt kurze Bemerkungen fallen wie «Könnte man hier nicht» oder «Habt ihr auch bedacht». Sein Vorgänger Mark Schneider hatte hier, wie Teilnehmer berichten, gern mit Nachdruck angeordnet, wie er es haben wollte – und wie nicht. / Am 13. Februar stellten sich für Freixe wie Schneider entscheidende Weichen: Beide ernteten willkommene Erfolgsmeldungen. Schneider wurde in den Aufsichtsrat der deutschen Siemens AG gewählt, mit 99,18 Prozent erzielte er die meisten Ja-Stimmen aller Kandidaten. In zwei Jahren soll er dort den Vorsitzenden Jim Hagemann Snabe beerben; Siemens, das ist Champions League der Wirtschaft. Bei Nestlé präsentierte Laurent Freixe am selben Tag die Jahresergebnisse, übertraf in Umsatz, Gewinnmarge und organischem Wachstum die Erwartungen der Finanzmärkte. Vor allem im vierten Quartal, als Freixe bereits im Chefsessel sass, hatte er das Geschäft beschleunigt, zudem bereits einige Hundert Millionen seines neuen Kostensparprogramms eingesammelt.
  4. ^EDHEC Staff (3 September 2024). "Laurent Freixe, EDHEC Master 1985, Becomes CEO of Nestlé". EDHEC.edu. Roubaix, France: EDHEC [École des Hautes Études Commerciales du Nord] Business School. Retrieved 29 December 2025. Nestlé has announced the appointment of a new CEO: Laurent Freixe, who graduated from EDHEC Business School in 1985, will take over as head of the world's largest food group. See also this link, for the meaning of the abbreviated school title.
  5. ^"Who Is Laurent Freixe? Nestlé CEO Sacked Over Undisclosed Relationship With Subordinate". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  6. ^"Nestle replaces CEO Schneider with company veteran Freixe". 23 August 2024.
  7. ^"Madrid, capital global de Juventud con la gala de la "Alianza Internacional de Cooperación en Juventud"". Organismo Internacional de Juventud para Iberoamérica (in Spanish). 22 May 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  8. ^"Nestlé realiza encuentro de mentes y juventudes". 23 October 2023.
  9. ^Reuters Staff (23 August 2024). Nestle Replaces CEO Schneider with Company Veteran Freixe. Retrieved 23 August 2024 – via CNBC.
  10. ^ abBasini, Bruna (9 May 2025). "Nestlé: Laurent Freixe, who else?". Les Echos (in French). Paris, France: Groupe Les Echos. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
  11. ^Ruschmann, Dirk (1 November 2024). "Laurent Freixe legt los". Bilanz (in German). p. 22.
  12. ^Speed, Madeleine (22 May 2025). "Nestlé Boss Says His Predecessor 'Weakened the Fabric' of the Company". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  13. ^ abMiller, Robert (2 September 2025). "Nestlé CEO Loses Job After 'Romantic Relationship' with Staff Member". The Times. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  14. ^Abraham, Rhea Rose (1 September 2025). "Nestle Dismisses CEO Laurent Freixe After Code of Conduct Breach". Reuters. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  15. ^Guardian Staff and Agencies (1 September 2025). "Nestlé Fires CEO After Investigation into 'Undisclosed Romantic Relationship'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  16. ^Fish, Isabella; Taylor, Guy Taylor & Sage, Adam (2 September 2025). "Can Philipp Navratil End the Turmoil at Nestlé?". The Times. Retrieved 29 December 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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