Unilever Plc
ULVR:LN
Latest Coverage
Overview
Company Profile
Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group Unilever supplies a whole range of household names from Dove soap, Liptons Tea, Vaseline and Persil. Recently abandoned its dual board structure.
Classification
Sector Consumer Staples
Industry Consumer Products - Household & Personal
Subindustry Household & Personal Products
Financials
News & Media
Corporate
Board of Directors
Paul Polman
Chief Executive Officer
Paul Polman has been CEO of Unilever since January 2009. Under his leadership Unilever has an ambitious vision to fully decouple its growth from overall environmental footprint and increase its positive social impact through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.
Michael Treschow
Chairman
Michael was born in Helsingborg, Sweden in 1943 and earned a master of engineering degree from the Institute of Technology, Lund, Sweden. He is also a supervisory board member of ABB Ltd and was chairman of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise until joining Unilever in May 2007. He was board chairman of Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson from 2002 to 2011. He was also chairman of the board of AB Electrolux from 2004 to 2007. Before joining Electrolux in 1997 as chief executive officer, Michael was president and chief executive officer of Atlas Copco AB. During his 22‐year career with the company, Michael spent three years in the US as area manager. Prior to that, while working for AB Bahco, he spent one year in France setting up Bahco Ventilation’s French operation. Michael has previously held non‐executive roles with Investor AB, Atlas Copco AB, SKF AB, Saab AB, Parker‐Hannifin Corp and as chairman of Dometic Group. He became a member of the European advisory board of Eli Lilly and Company in August 2008 and is a member of the board of directors of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Graeme Pitkethly
Chief Financial Officer
Graeme Pitkethly became Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive on 1 October 2015. He will be proposed for election to the Boards of Unilever N.V. and PLC at the Annual General Meetings in April 2016.
Laura Cha
Non-Executive Director
Laura Cha was appointed a Non-Executive Director of Unilever in May 2013. She is also a member of Unilever’s Corporate Responsibility Committee.
Vittorio Colao
Non-Executive Director
Mr Colao has been a member of the Vodafone Board since 2006, and Chief Executive since 2008. He joined Omnitel Pronto Italia in 1996, which subsequently became Vodafone Italy, and he was appointed Chief Executive in 1999. He was appointed regional Chief Executive Officer, Southern Europe for Vodafone Group Plc in 2001, became a member of the Board in 2002 and appointed to the role of Regional Chief Executive Officer for Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa for Vodafone in 2003. In 2004 Mr Colao left Vodafone to join RCS MediaGroup, the leading Italian publishing company, where he was Chief Executive until he rejoined Vodafone as CEO, Europe and Deputy Chief Executive in 2006. Mr Colao sits on the International Advisory Board of Bocconi University, Italy, on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Harvard Business School and is a Vice-Chairman of the European Round Table of Industrialists.
Louise Fresco
Non-Executive Director
Louise is President of the Executive Board of Wageningen UR. From 1990 to 1997, Louise was Professor of Plant Production Systems and Chair of the Department of Agronomy at Wageningen University. From 1997 to 2006, she held various positions at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, including that of assistant director-general, Agriculture Department. She was also vice-chair of the Council of the United Nations University. In July 2014 she became President of the Executive Board of Wageningen UR. From 2009 to 2014 Louise was supervisory director of Rabobank. She was also a Crown appointed member of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands, stepping down in 2104. Louise is a member of a number of bodies including being a member of the International Trilateral Commission, a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, a corresponding member of the Spanish Real Academia de Ingeniería and a member of the North Netherlands Society for Sciences.
Ann Fudge
Non-Executive Director
Ann is a non‐executive director at Novartis AG and General Electric Co. From 1993 - 2003 she served on the board of Honeywell International Inc and from 2001 to 2003 was a non‐executive director of Marriott International Inc and of Infosys from 2011 - 2014. From 2003 to 2006, Ann served as the chairman and chief executive officer of Young & Rubicam Brands. Prior to joining Young & Rubicam, she was a non-executive director at Buzzient Inc. and also worked at General Mills and at Kraft Foods, where she served in a number of senior management positions including president of Beverages, Desserts and Post Cereal Division. Ann is an honorary director of Catalyst, Trustee of Rockefeller Foundation and Brookings and chairman of the US Programs Advisory Panel of the Gates Foundation. She is also a board member on the Council of Foreign Relations.
Judith Hartmann
Non-Executive Director
Judith joined GDF SUEZ as a special adviser to the CEO and Chairman in February 2015, and became Chief Financial Officer of GDF SUEZ on 16 March 2015. She was Chief Financial Officer of the international media and services corporation Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA from 2012-2015. Prior to that, she had been at General Electric since 2000, where she had a number of CFO roles including CFO Global Service, GE Healthcare Clinical Systems, CFO GE Water Europe, Middle East & Africa, CFO GE Healthcare Latin America and CFO GE Germany. Her earlier career included financial positions in The Walt Disney Company and Transport Canada. Judith has recently been a Non-Executive Director of RTL Group, Penguin Random House and Gruner + Jahr GmbH & Co KG.
Mary Ma
Non-Executive Director
Previously, Mary was a partner at private investment firm TPG Capital and co-chairman of TPG China where she primarily focused on investments in the Greater China region. Before joining TPG, Mary was a senior vice president and chief financial officer of the world’s second largest Personal Computer business and global technology firm, Lenovo. She continues to be a member of the Lenovo Board, since becoming non-executive vice chairman in 2007. Mary is chairman of Boyu Capital, a private equity fund she co-founded in 2011 which specialises in investments in China and a non-executive director of Wumart Stores, the fastest growing retailer in China. Mary also serves on the board of the Hong Kong-based watch and optical retailer, Stelux Holdings and is a non-executive director of the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong. Mary has been a member of both the Listing Committee of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Institute of Directors. She has been an independent director of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited and a member of the Dean\'s Council of the Kennedy School of Harvard University between 2002-2007.
Hixonia Nyasulu
Non-Executive Director
Hixonia Nyasulu was appointed a Non-Executive Director of Unilever in May 2007. She is also a member of Unilever\'s Audit Committee.
John Rishton
Non-Executive Director
Since 2011, he has been chief executive officer of Rolls Royce Holdings plc, a global provider of integrated power systems. John was appointed a non-executive director of Rolls Royce Group in 2007 and served as chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the company’s Ethics and Nominations Committees. Prior to joining Rolls Royce, John was chief executive officer and president of the Dutch international retailer, Royal Ahold N.V., a position he held from 2007 to 2011. Before becoming chief executive officer, he was Royal Ahold’s chief financial officer. John served as vice chairman of ICA AB, one of the Nordic region’s leading retail companies and was a director of the company from 2006 to 2010. He is also a former non-executive Director of the international Drinks Company, Allied Domecq, prior to its sale in 2005. John is a former chief financial officer and a member of the leadership team of British Airways plc (2001 to 2005). He also served as commercial controller of British Airways from 1999 to 2001 and was responsible for providing financial support to the commercial activities of sales, marketing, alliances and cargo. John is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and has an Economics Degree from Nottingham University.
Feike Sijbesma
Non-Executive Director
Feike has been the CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board of Directors of Royal DSM N.V. (a global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company) since May 2007. In 1995, Feike became director of Gist-Brocades Food Specialties Division and joined Gist-Brocade’s executive committee. Following the acquisition by Royal DSM N.V. in 1998, he became a director of the business group DSM Food Specialties. In 2000 he joined Royal DSM’s managing board of directors, becoming Chairman and CEO in May 2007. He is currently a member of the supervisory board of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB, the Dutch Central Bank), and a board member of CEFIC (European Chemical Industry Council) and member of the Global CEO Council (GCC) of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC). His previous roles have included member of the Supervisory Board of DSM Netherlands, the Utrecht University, the Dutch Genomics Initiative (NGI) and the Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek Hospital/Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI/AVL), chairman of Chemical Governors and a Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum, Dutch Food Chain Sustainability Foundation (DUVO) and of EuropaBio (European Biotech Association), a member of the Dutch Innovation Platform 2.0, board member of BIO (US Biotechnology Association), the Swiss Society of Chemical Industries (SCGI) and the Dutch Nutrition/Food Top-Institute (WCFS) and a member of the advisory board of ECP-EPN (e-commerce) and the Rotterdam Business School of the Erasmus University.