New particulars of how sex-crazed married CEO’s affair with a lot youthful feminine underling brought on chaos at iconic chocolate maker and destroyed profession of American govt
Juicy new details about how the world’s biggest food company crumbled after its married CEO was caught having an affair with a female underling have been revealed.
Laurent Freixe, 63, had been the CEO of Nestle for just 12 months when he was suddenly ousted on September 1, after his own mistress allegedly called him out.
Freixe’s main offense was having an undisclosed relationship with the younger female underling while promoting her to premier positions and boosting her pay.
Though the mistress has not been named, their relationship was an open secret at the iconic chocolate brand, and there was widespread discontent among employees.
Amid the internal chaos, Nestle saw its share prices tumble by more than 20 percent, as debt levels ballooned and sales growth stalled.
Now, new details have been revealed about Freixe’s spectacular rise and fall and how his antics threatened Nestle’s position as one of the world’s leading chocolatiers.
Paris-born Freixe is reportedly married to a high-flying director, Agata Balcerowska, and he has two children from a previous marriage, according to the Times of London.
Freixe worked his way through the ranks at Nestle over the course of 25 years – receiving praise for growing the Swiss company’s coffee division, Nescafe Dolce Gusto, to rake in billions in annual revenue as the Head of Europe in the noughties.
Juicy new details about how the world’s biggest food company crumbled under the weight of a scandalous office relationship have been revealed. Laurent Freixe (pictured), 63, had been the CEO of Nestle 12 months when he was suddenly ousted on September 1 this year
Paris-born Freixe is reportedly married to a high-flying director, Agata Balcerowska (pictured), and he worked his way through the ranks at Nestle over the course of 25 years
Freixe helped grow the Swiss company’s coffee division, Nescafe Dolce Gusto, to rake in billions in annual revenue as the Head of Europe during the noughties
But he ultimately orchestrated his own downfall when he began dipping his pen in the proverbial company ink.
Freixe’s house of cards came tumbling down when his longtime mistress reportedly caught him with another employee in a Zurich hotel room and filed a complaint that triggered a rapid internal investigation.
The shockwaves were felt throughout the company, with several major executives being forced to step down – and the new CEO has cut thousands of jobs.
Insiders have told the Wall Street Journal that Freixe initially competed against Florida businessman and Nestle veteran Steve Presley for the role of CEO.
Presley ran Nestle’s Latin America team, and Freixe allegedly promoted his main mistress to a prominent role on this team, covering almost all of Nestle’s marketing in the US, Canada and Latin America.
The woman, who had joined Nestlé as a management trainee 20 years earlier, was allegedly given boosted pay, anonymous sources told the Journal.
They also said that Presley grew suspicious that his new marketing executive was briefing Freixe about their meetings.
Freixe appeared to grow threatened by Presley’s suspicions, and accused him of ‘trying to create a subculture within Nestle’, per the Journal.
Insiders have told the Wall Street Journal that Freixe initially competed against Florida businessman and Nestle veteran Steve Presley (pictured) for the role of CEO
In April, Presley and Freixe met at Nestle’s headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, to address their power struggle. They agreed that Presley should resign after almost 30 years of service
The Swiss-based company encourages employees to report any ‘non-compliance concerns’
In April, the two men met at Nestle’s headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, to address their power struggle. They agreed that Presley should resign after almost 30 years of service to the firm.
Freixe assumed Presley’s role along with being CEO – making him his main mistress’s direct boss. Nestle received a barrage of complaints alleging improper favoritism one month later.
The company said in late July that an internal investigation found no wrongdoing – but a second, third-party probe by a law firm resulted in Freixe’s firing in September.
Nestle said he broke its code of conduct by failing to disclose a relationship with a direct report. Freixe was terminated without pay.
The new CEO, Philipp Navratil, 49, has cut 16,000 jobs and tied pay to performance, in what some analysts have seen as an attempt to quash the company’s cozy practices.
‘Trust has been eroded with some of the events we have seen recently. Some of our making,’ Navratil said in a recent podcast for employees.
He promised to bring a new generation to the 159-year-old company that would ‘question everything’.
