Born in 1962, Freixe grew up in Paris. He earned an MBA with a focus on marketing from EDHEC Business School in Lille in 1985.
Freixe joined Nestlé in 1986 and went on to hold leadership roles across the world. When Nestlé revamped its geographic structure in January 2022, he was appointed CEO of Zone Latin America.
Freixe spent nearly 40 years at Nestle, but he took over the CEO role exactly one year ago last September, after Nestlé ousted his predecessor, Mark Schneider, following sluggish performance during his nearly eight-year tenure. At the time, Freixe was seen as a safe pair of hands who would restore Nestlé’s traditional strengths after Schneider — a rare outsider in the top job — had taken the company in new directions.
As CEO, Freixe focused on reigniting growth and reconnecting with consumers by increasing advertising spending and betting on fewer but bigger product initiatives. He also kicked off a strategic review of struggling vitamin brands and spun off Nestlé’s waters business into a standalone unit. However, as per Bloomberg report, he failed to regain investors’ trust, with Nestlé shares declining 17% under his tenure, compared with a roughly 5% decline for rival Unilever Plc.
Outside Nestlé, Freixe serves as a board member of Cereal Partners Worldwide and Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), Manufacturer College, among others. He is also a member at IMD Foundation Board.
