Procter & Gamble said Thursday that its current chief operating officer Jon Moeller will become CEO in November, replacing David Taylor, who will become executive chairman of its board.
The 57-year-old Moeller currently is also vice chairman of P&G. In addition to becoming CEO, he will also take over as president, another title Taylor currently has.
A Cornell University graduate, Moeller has worked at the consumer goods giant since 1988, when he was hired as a cost analyst for P&G’s food products division.
Jon Moeller, named CEO of Procter & Gamble.
Courtesy: Procter & Gamble
“I am honored to serve as P&G’s CEO,” Moeller said in a statement. “My confidence in the future is rooted in my confidence in P&G people. They are committed to lead, motivated to win, and have a strong focus on sustained excellence in everything we do — serving consumers and delivering for shareholders through an integrated strategy that is delivering balanced growth and value creation.”
James McNerney, lead director of P&G’s board, in a statement announcing the surprise move, said: “Jon has been an integral part of P&G’s leadership team for well over two decades, helping develop the strategies that P&G people are executing with excellence to drive P&G’s growth and value creation.”
“He is an outstanding leader, and the Company will benefit from his ongoing leadership to build on the strong momentum he has helped create over the last few years.”
Taylor, 62, had been CEO since Nov. 1, 2015, replacing A.G. Lafley, who himself became P&G’s executive chairman. Taylor will exit as CEO on Nov. 1 this year.
His tenure as CEO was marked by a proxy battle in 2017 with the investor Nelson Peltz. Despite beating back an effort by Peltz to win a seat on its board, P&G later that year named him as a director, noting that he had won a large percentage of shareholders’ votes.
“We thank David for his strategic leadership and guidance over the last six years as the Company has returned to consistent balanced growth and value creation,” McNerney said.
“A strong plan for sustained success is in place and the Board unanimously agrees that now is the time to transition to Jon as CEO. We are fortunate and grateful to have David continue as Executive Chairman,” McNerney said.
P&G also said Thursday that Shailesh Jejurikar was elected as chief operating officer, effective Oct. 1.
Jejurikar currently serves as CEO of its fabric and home care segment, P&G’s largest business unit.
P&G is scheduled to report its fiscal second-quarter results Friday morning. Since the start of the year, its stock is up less than 1%, putting its market value at $341.48 billion.
Nelson Peltz (R), on a panel with David Taylor, speaking at the 2019 Delivering Alpha conference in New York on Sept. 19, 2019.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
