Reckitt Benckiser have announced the departure of their long standing Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor, after eight years at the helm.
Kapoor has been with the company for 32 years. The firm have yet to announce a replacement.
Since his accession to the role of CEO at Reckitt Benckiser, Kapoor has been consistently ranked as one of the highest paid executives in the UK.
Back in March last year, it was announced that Kapoor’s renumeration package would be cut for the second consecutive year, amid opposition from shareholders.
Chris Sinclair, Chairman of the Board, said: “Under Rakesh’s leadership, RB has been transformed from a household cleaning business to a world leader in consumer health and hygiene. Rakesh has been both the visionary and the architect behind this strategic portfolio transformation since the mid-2000s. He has also developed RB2.0 – an organisation designed for sustainable growth and outperformance. On behalf of the Board, I want to express our appreciation for his vision, passion and leadership over his long and distinguished tenure. We are now commencing a formal and comprehensive process to appoint a successor, considering both internal and external candidates.”
Departing CEO Rakesh Kapoor commented: “It has been a huge privilege to lead RB and I am very proud of the hard work and commitment of our people in delivering our success and many achievements. The last two years in particular, have been transformational with the acquisition of Mead Johnson, the catalyst for the creation of our two business units, Health and Hygiene, Home. 2020 will herald a new decade and I believe now is a good time for new leadership to take this great company through the next phase of outperformance. I will remain fully focussed on driving the business until a successor is in place.”
Reckitt Benckiser is a multi-national consumer goods company, which is headquartered in Slough. Its products include Airwick, Clearasil, Durex and Vanish.
Shares in Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB) are currently down -2.93% as of 13:50PM (GMT).