Nestlé Announces Leadership Reshuffle, Names New CFO

Nestlé S.A. announced on Tuesday, May 30, that it had appointed new executives to help lead the company. One of the new appointees is Anna Manz, who has been named as the new chief financial officer.

She was hired to replace Francois-Xavier Roger, who is vacating the CFO role. Nestlé said he made the decision to step down to "pursue new professional challenges." Roger was the Swiss food manufacturer’s executive vice president as well, and he is leaving after serving the company for eight years.

Prior to being hired by the Swiss food company, Manz is said to be the finance chief at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). According to Reuters, the new CFO is joining Nestlé as soon as she is cleared of her duties at LSEG.

She is also expected to become a member of the company’s executive board, where she will assume the role of executive vice president. Nestlé’s board has 15 members, and currently, five of them are women. For a smooth leadership transition, Roger will be staying at the company until Manz is ready to take over.

"On behalf of our Board of Directors and our Executive Board, I would like to offer our sincere thanks to François who has supported us in shaping and implementing our value creation strategy and has helped steer Nestlé through a very turbulent macro-economic environment over the last three years,” Nestlé’s chief executive officer, Ulf Mark Schneider, said in a press release. “We wish him all the best for his next endeavors.”

The CEO went on to say, “At the same time, we are thrilled to welcome Anna Manz to Nestlé. She has spent her career growing businesses and improving operational efficiencies. Her deep knowledge of the consumer goods industry, combined with her extensive experience across many corporate functions, make her uniquely positioned to help lead Nestlé into its next phase of value creation."

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