God forbid a man have hobbies… 

Instead of worrying about KitKat margins or why nobody buys their Flintstones vitamins anymore, Nestlé’s now managing the fallout from its CEO allegedly doing his own HR “performance reviews” after hours. Laurent Freixe… four decades at the company, one year in the top seat… is out after an internal probe confirmed he’d been dipping his proverbial pen into the company’s ink (read: employee).  

(Source: Giphy)

In short, this is the second CEO body bag in less than 12 months. Mark Schneider was punted last year for being boring and ineffective. Freixe’s exit is messier: he denied the relationship when rumors surfaced, employees kept pushing it through Nestlé’s internal hotline, and eventually the board ordered an investigation with outside lawyers. The result? Zero severance, zero dignity, and headlines in Switzerland that makes the food conglomerate look more like a taboo genre than a corporate juggernaut. 

(Source: CNBC) 

Case in point: For most of its 159-year history, Nestlé has been Switzerland’s poster child for stability. It had predictable earnings, predictable dividends, and predictable men in gray suits who retire into board chairs. Well now, that reputation is in flames. In just over a year, Nestlé has lost two CEOs and announced that its longtime chairman, Paul Bulcke, will step down in 2026. Investors are calling this period the most chaotic in the company’s modern history. 

(Source: Giphy) 

Naturally, this has shares down nearly a third in five years, underperforming European peers. During Freixe’s brief reign, the stock lost 17%. For context: in the same stretch, you could’ve doubled your money in Novo Nordisk just by sitting around and waiting for fat people to take Ozempic. Meaning, Nestlé is bleeding credibility at exactly the wrong time. Sales volumes are slipping, its once-vaunted lifestyle “vitamins and supplements” play is under review for divestment, and competitors are hammering it across key markets. Analysts say new CEO Philipp Navratil (fresh out of Nespresso) looks like a stopgap, “boxed in” by Freixe’s unfinished turnaround strategy.

The problem though, is that because of the sequence of events, investors don’t know if Nestlé has a mid-term strategy at all. One day it’s promising acquisitions, the next it’s trimming business lines, and meanwhile the dividend aristocrat aura that once kept everyone calm is evaporating. 

(Source: Giphy) 

So now, it’s become a punchline. The company that built an empire selling instant coffee and sugar-laden snacks is now burning through executives like it’s friggin’ Intel. Investors wanted growth for the company, whereas instead, they got a scandal mixed with more instability. Which means at the end of the day, with two CEOs out in the last two years… shareholders aren’t looking for vision anymore. They’re just hoping the next guy can keep his pants on. Only time will tell… but place your bets accordingly, regardless. Until next time, friends… 

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News holds positions in Intel as mentioned in the article.