
Procter & Gamble replaces CEO Moeller in surprise move with COO Jejurikar
Moeller, who had been at the helm since 2021, will become executive chairman and will "provide advice and counsel to the CEO on company matters," P&G said in a statement on Monday, a day before it was scheduled to report its quarterly results.
It did not disclose the reason for the change in leadership.
Under Moeller, the company navigated a post-pandemic sales boom, as well as rising expenses and sticky inflation. P&G shares gained roughly 13% during his four-year tenure.
In June, the company said it would cut 7,000 jobs over the next two years and exit some product categories and brands in certain markets, including some potential divestitures, as part of the broader two-year restructuring plan.
The company, which makes Pampers diapers and Head & Shoulders shampoo, in April warned of higher product prices due to an increase in input costs from the trade war at a time of weakening consumer spending. Its stock is down about 6% so far this year.
Jejurikar's appointment, effective January 1, 2026, keeps up with P&G's preference of naming internal candidates for the top job. Moeller had also risen through the ranks before becoming the COO and then CEO of the company.
The board has nominated Jejurikar as a director at the annual shareholder meeting in October 2025.
Jejurikar has held roles across multiple P&G businesses, including Health & Beauty Care and P&G Professional. Prior to his current role, he was the head of P&G's Fabric & Home Care, which includes brands such as Tide, Ariel and Downy.
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Sales up at Procter & Gamble but Trump's tariffs to bite
The world's largest consumer goods company has warned of a 'volatile' trading environment even as quarterly sales narrowly beat market expectations. Procter & Gamble said fourth-quarter net sales grew 2 per cent to $20.9 billion, marginally ahead of analysts' forecasts. Annual net sales remained broadly level at $84 billion as higher pricing was offset by a 1 per cent decline from 'unfavourable exchange impacts'. However, the company, which owns brands including Head & Shoulders, Gillette and Pampers, gave a more downbeat outlook for the year ahead as it priced in an added $1 billion in pre-tax costs from US tariffs. Procter & Gamble forecast total net sales growth for the 2026 financial year of between 1 and 5 per cent, marginally below analysts' forecasts. The company is grappling with global headwinds including China's economic slowdown and US President Trump's trade policy. In June the company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, said that it would cut 7,000 office-based roles over the next two years, about 15 per cent of its non-manufacturing workforce, as it looks to streamline operations and reduce costs amid heightened consumer caution. Shares have fallen nearly 8 per cent this year to date and dipped a further 0.28 per cent after markets opened in the US. Jon Moeller, chief executive, said: 'We grew sales and profit in fiscal 2025 and returned high levels of cash to share-owners in a dynamic, difficult and volatile environment.' He added that the company had 'strong plans in place to continue to deliver for all stakeholders in the current environment'. This includes raising prices on some products to counter the impact of Trump's tariffs, which forced the company into cutting full-year earnings and sales guidance in April as it warned of drawn-out uncertainty. Procter & Gamble's annual results were overshadowed by a surprise announcement on Monday that Jon Moeller would be stepping down from the top job after four year to be replaced by operating chief Shailesh Jejurikar. The India-born businessman, 58, will take up the position at the turn of the year, with Moeller becoming executive chairman. Jejurikar joined Procter & Gamble in 1989 and has held leadership roles across divisions including fabric and home care, which owns Tide, Febreze and Ariel. His appointment continues a trend of the company hiring insiders as chief executive. On a quarterly basis, organic sales grew in all five of its divisions, which include beauty, grooming, health care, baby, feminine and family care and fabric and home care. Its beauty division, which owns Pantene and Olay, rose 1 per cent year-on-year despite being impacted by a decline in volumes in hair care in North America and greater China. Founded in 1837 by the candlemaker William Procter and soap industrialist James Gamble, Procter & Gamble has grown to a market capitalisation of about $365 billion. It employs 108,000 people worldwide, with its largest operations in North America, Europe and greater China. The conglomerate returned about $16 billion to shareholders in 2025, including $9.9 billion in dividend payments, according to Tuesday's statement. An increase in the dividend in April marked the 69th consecutive year that Procter & Gamble has increased payouts for its investors. Looking ahead, it anticipates dividends of about $10 billion in fiscal 2026.


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July 29 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble (PG.N), opens new tab said on Monday CEO Jon Moeller is stepping away from the top job after four years in the role, and that he would be succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Shailesh Jejurikar. The reshuffle in the top position comes amid a string of similar announcements from consumer-facing companies globally. In the United States, companies are removing their CEOs at the fastest pace in two decades, with data showing that at least 41 CEOs have exited S&P 500 companies so far this year, compared with 49 for all of 2024. Here are some examples of major CEO changes in the past year:


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Before that in the last three weeks alone Tylenol-maker Kenvue (KVUE.N), opens new tab replaced its CEO and health care products distributor Henry Schein (HSIC.O), opens new tab said its CEO will leave at year's end. In interviews, more than a dozen executive recruiters, investors, bankers, lawyers and industry advisers attributed the high turnover this year to a range of reasons, some building up from economic and social changes since the Covid-19 pandemic. While high inflation, geopolitical instability and the Trump administration's trade war has complicated the job of CEOs, diversity gains made boards more independent and demanding of the person in the top job, these people said. At the same time, in a stock market setting new records but driven mostly by large tech names, underperformance had given activist investors, who push for corporate changes from selling a division to buying back more stock, greater sway, leading to management changes. 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In contrast the S&P 500 has climbed 41% since August 2023, when Kenvue became a fully independent company. Kenvue took action after three U.S. hedge funds -- Starboard Value, Tom's Capital and Third Point – agitated for change at the company, and Starboard CEO Jeffrey Smith got a board seat in March to settle that hedge fund's proxy fight. The battle at Kenvue continues, however. The other two funds continue to agitate for more changes, including divesting assets and possibly selling the entire company, according to people familiar with the matter. With a new CEO on board investors, are confident a sale is sure to follow, the sources said. Kenvue declined to comment, Mongon could not be reached for comment and the hedge funds did not respond to requests for comment. "Activist investors are feeling more empowered, and if they have bought into a company's five-year plan then they want someone to exercise it," said Georgetown University professor Jason Schloetzer, an expert in corporate governance. "And if the guy at the top can't do it, they'll find the next one." Beyond shareholder activism and performance, changes in the makeup of boards over the past decade when there had been a new focus on adding diversity was also playing a role in the shakeup at the top, corporate governance experts said. Such boards were acting with greater independence, putting CEOs on tighter leash, these people said. "Newer members have more objectivity relative to prior generations," said Jason Baumgarten, head of global board and CEO practice at executive recruitment firm Spencer Stuart. Another factor in the high CEO turnover: less tolerance of unethical behavior, especially after the #MeToo movement. Questions over personal conduct led to the departure of at least two of the 40 CEOs at S&P 500 -- at Kroger (KR.N), opens new tab and Kohl's (KSS.N), opens new tab. Representatives for the companies did not respond to requests for comment and the former executives could not be reached for comment. But the trend goes beyond publicly traded companies as well. Earlier this month, Andy Byron, the married CEO at privately held technology company Astronomer, left his position after a video of him embracing the firm's human resources chief Kristin Cabot, who is not his wife, at a Coldplay concert went viral. Astronomer did not respond to a request for comment and Byron could not be reached. Reputational risk and corporate culture have become central to a company's long-term value, Jasper Street's da Silva Vint said. "Today's boards are far more willing to act decisively, removing executives, not only to enforce policy, but to protect shareholder, employee and public trust," he said.