Food products Nestlé Chairman Paul Bulcke to step down at the 2026 Annual General Meeting
After almost 50 years with the company, Nestlé Chairman of the Board of Directors Paul Bulcke will be stepping down at the Annual General Meeting on April 16, 2026. The Board of Directors of the food company has nominated the current Vice Chairman Pablo Isla as his successor.
18.06.2025, 18:38
18.06.2025, 20:26
SDA
Paul Bulcke will not be standing for re-election at the upcoming Annual General Meeting. "The right time has come for me to devote more time to my family and my many interests," he explained his decision in a statement on Wednesday evening.
Bulcke is stepping down one year earlier than would be possible under the Articles of Association. He would not have reached the age limit of 72 until the 2027 Annual General Meeting. Bulcke was born in 1954.
He can look back on a long career at Nestlé. He joined the company in 1979. In 2004, he was promoted to the Executive Board as Head of the Americas business. From 2008 to 2016, he was CEO of the company.
He was first elected to the Board of Directors in 2008. After serving as CEO, he took over as Chairman in 2017.
Pablo Isla nominated as successor
There is already a designated successor. The Board of Directors has nominated Pablo Isla for election as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors. This will allow "sufficient time for a smooth and orderly transition", Nestlé continues.
Pablo Isla has been a member of the Nestlé Board of Directors since 2018. The Spaniard was elected Vice Chairman in 2024. He also held the position of Lead Independent Director on the Board of Directors. Isla was CEO of the textile company Inditex from 2005 to 2011, and from 2011 to 2022 he was both Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Inditex.
Nestlé had already replaced its CEO in September 2024. Laurent Freixe succeeded Mark Schneider, who had taken over the operational business from Bulcke, quite suddenly. "I am confident that our company is in trustworthy hands with Pablo Isla, with CEO Laurent Freixe and with the strong management team and Board of Directors," Bulcke was quoted as saying in the press release.
