Brabeck elected as Nestle chairman despite resistance

15/04/05 Peter Brabeck-Letmathe has won his battle to be both CEO and Chairman of the Board at Nestle, but shareholder resistance was high. Almost 36 per cent of shareholders were in favor of a motion preventing the Chairman from being a member of the Executive Board at the same time at the General Meeting. A 50 percent group voted against the motion and therefore in favor of Brabeck.

Speculations had been rampant in the Swiss press earlier this week that a collective resignation of the Board was on the cards, due to the existent shareholder opposition of Brabeck’s new dual role. Immediately after the conclusion of the General Meeting, the newly-constituted Board of Directors of Nestlé S.A. met to elect Mr. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe as Chairman and CEO. The Board also elected Mr. Andreas Koopmann as first Vice-Chairman and Mr. Rolf Hänggi as second Vice-Chairman.