This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Paul Polman | |
---|---|
Born | Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman 11 July 1956 Enschede, Netherlands |
Education | University of Groningen University of Cincinnati |
Occupation | Businessman |
Years active | 1979– |
Title | Former CEO, Unilever |
Term | 2009-2019 |
Predecessor | Patrick Cescau |
Successor | Alan Jope |
Spouse | Kim |
Children | 3 |
Website | paulpolman.com |
Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman, KBE [1] (born 11 July 1956 [2] ) is a Dutch businessman and author. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the British/Dutch consumer goods company Unilever. [3] Polman is also the co-author (with Andrew Winston) of Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take. [4]
Whilst CEO of Unilever from 2009 to 2019, he set an ambitious vision to fully decouple business growth from its overall environmental footprint and increase the company’s positive social impact through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. [5] [6] During Polman’s tenure, he provided a return vastly superior to rivals and more than double that of the FTSE index. [7] In 2018, the Financial Times called Polman “a standout CEO of the past decade.” [8]
In 2019, alongside Jeff Seabright (formerly the Chief Sustainability Officer of Unilever) and others, he co-founded a new organisation called Imagine to help businesses "eradicate poverty and inequality, and stem runaway climate change". [9] In 2022, Imagine Consultancy was purchased by Systemiq, an environmental consultancy firm focused on essential system change, of which Polman is a board-member and major shareholder. [10]
Polman was also an early proponent of Net Positive investing, through which he invests in for-profit companies whose mission is to deliver both high impact and financial returns. Polman sits on the Founders Board of TPG Rise, a $7 billion social-impact fund, alongside Bono and Jeffrey Skoll. [11] Polman is also founding Co-Chair of EQT Future, a €3 billion long-hold impact fund, alongside Jacob Wallenberg. [12] Polman is also an active Venture Capital investor having participated in several high profile fundraises for climate and mission focused companies. [13] As a result of his work championing causes around climate change, inequality, and sustainability, Polman has become a prominent global figure in the push for more responsible business. [14]
Polman was born and grew up in the Dutch city of Enschede, in a Catholic family with three brothers and two sisters, the son of a tyre company executive father and a former schoolteacher mother. [15]
Polman had hoped to become a doctor, but medical school places were allocated by lottery and he was not chosen. [15] Instead, he studied at the University of Groningen, graduating with a BBA/BA in 1977. [16] He completed his MA in Economics and MBA in Finance and International Marketing in 1979 at University of Cincinnati. [17]
In June 2014 Polman received his honorary doctorate during the 400th anniversary of the University of Groningen. [18]
On May 18, 2018, Polman received his Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from George Mason University. As the day's Commencement speaker, [19] Dr. Polman declared, "Any system where too many feel they are not participating or are left behind will ultimately rebel against itself." [20] Capturing the spirit of his own sense of purpose, he continued, "The world we want will only be achieved when we choose action over indifference, courage over comfort, and solidarity over division."
Polman worked for Procter & Gamble for 27 years, starting in 1979 as a cost analyst, becoming managing director of P&G U.K. from 1995 to 1998, president of global fabric care from 1998 to 2001, and group president for Europe in 2001. [21]
Polman then joined Nestlé in 2006 as chief financial officer and in February 2008 became vice president and head of the Americas. [22] [23] [24]
On 1 January 2009, Polman succeeded Patrick Cescau as chief executive officer of Unilever. Under Polman's leadership, Unilever has set a target to decouple its growth from its overall environmental footprint and improve its social impact through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. [5] Polman has argued that, in a volatile world of finite resources, running a business sustainably is vital for its long-term growth [25] and also mitigates risk and reduces costs. [26] Unilever has now seen eight years of top line growth, averaging twice the rate of overall market growth, whilst improving the bottom line and delivering a total shareholder return of 290%. Bernstein's 2017 Blackbook entitled 'European Food and HPC: 10-Year Global Market Share Analysis' rated Unilever top-of-class for absolute market share gains (ex-M&A) and a proportion of its categories with gains. It also compared medium-term operating expectations to current valuations, leading to an Outperform rating on Unilever. Some shareholders, however, have worried that Polman's focus on sustainability has become more important to him than the financial performance of Unilever after the company missed sales targets for six out of eight quarters in 2013 and 2014. Polman, who scrapped short-term targets at the company, has argued that the failure to meet targets is a result of erratic currency fluctuations and the slow-down in emerging markets since 2013. Paul Polman has said that he has ambitions to increase the company's sales in emerging markets from the current 57% (47% in 2008) to 70% of turnover. Procter & Gamble, by contrast, make only 37% of sales in emerging markets and Nestlé 43%. [27] In 2009, Polman decided to make many significant management changes in order to improve Unilever's revenue in each of its business pillars.
In 2016, Polman's total compensation was €8.3 million including a basic salary of €1.2million and other benefits (2015, €10.2 million). [28]
In 2018, Unilever supported the abolition of Dutch dividend-tax, [29] even though over 80% of Dutch citizens were against the tax-cut as it meant a loss of about 2 billion euros of tax-revenue a year for the Dutch state. [30] In October 2018, it was announced Unilever has cancelled plans to move headquarters from London to Rotterdam. [31] In November 2018, Polman announced he was stepping down as chief executive officer of Unilever at the end of 2018 with Alan Jope succeeding him. [32]
In July 2019, Polman announced the formation of a new group - Imagine World - to help combat poverty and climate change. [9] The foundation and corporation aims to help companies meet UN global goals for sustainable development. Imagine World was acquired by Systemiq in 2022 of which Polman remains a board member as well as major shareholder. [10] Systemiq, a certified B-Corporation, is a world leading environmental consultancy firm focused on managing and promoting responsible change as well as performing cutting edge research on climate topics. With over 400 consultants, they connect people, ideas, technologies and capital as part of a systems change platform. [33]
Polman is a former [34] chair of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and sat on the board of directors of the Consumer Goods Forum, [35] leading its sustainability efforts. He is also a member of board of the UN Global Compact. [36] At the invitation of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Polman served as one of the 27 members of the UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. At the invitation of former Mexican President, Felipe Calderón, Polman served on the International Council of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. [37]
He has co-authored a report published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) that criticizes the efforts of the SDGs as not ambitious enough. Instead of aiming for an end to poverty by 2030, the report "An Ambitious Development Goal: Ending Hunger and Undernutrition by 2025" calls for a greater emphasis on eliminating hunger and undernutrition and achieving that in 5 years less, by 2025. [38]
Polman co-founded the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition, led by former Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende. He is a member of the World Economic Forum International Business Council, [39] the Global Taskforce for Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) [40] and was part of the European Resource Efficiency Platform Working Group, [41] chaired by European Commissioner Janez Potočnik. He was co-chair of the World Economic Forum 2012. He is a counsellor of One Young World [42] and trustee of the Leverhulme Trust. Polman was co-chair of the B-20 Food Security Taskforce. [43] Polman served on the board of Unilever from 2009 to 2019. He formerly served on the boards of Dow and Alcon. Polman is also part of the Leadership Vanguard, an initiative that seeks to identify, support and mobilise the next generation of leaders, focuses on redefining value. [44] He has been a member of IESE's International Advisory Board (IAB) [45] since 2015.
He is president of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, a foundation he created alongside fellow climber Erik Weihenmayer, to benefit blind children in Africa, and chair of the Perkins International Advisory Board.
In 2016 Polman was selected by former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to be an SDG Advocate, tasked with helping build widespread support for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. [46] He was again appointed in 2019 by the current Secretary-General António Guterres. [47]
Polman is co-chair of the Global Commission for the Economy and Climate, with Nicholas Stern and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. [48]
He is a member of The B Team, chairing the group from August 2018 to September 2021. [49]
In 2019 Polman was appointed as Chair of the Board for University of Oxford, Saїd Business School. [50]
Polman is married to Kim Polman, with whom he has three sons. [51]
Polman once considered joining the priesthood. [52]
Polman has received numerous awards for his leadership and efforts in sustainable development that include:
Lee Roy Raymond is an American businessman and was the chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman of ExxonMobil from 1999 to 2005. He had previously been the CEO of Exxon since 1993. He joined the company in 1963 and served as president from 1987 and a director beginning in 1984.
Unilever PLC is a British multinational fast-moving consumer goods company founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of British soap maker Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie. It is headquartered in London, England.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a CEO-led organization of over 225 international companies. The council is also connected to 60 national and regional business councils and partner organizations.
Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, which has diversified interests in telecom, insurance, real estate, education, malls, hospitality, Agri and food besides other ventures.
Jeroen van der Veer is a Dutch businessman. He was the chairman of Philips, and previously a chief executive officer (CEO) of Royal Dutch Shell.
Andrew N. Liveris is an Australian former CEO and chairman of The Dow Chemical Company of Midland, Michigan. Liveris served as a member of Dow's board of directors since February 2004, CEO since November 2004 and was elected as chairman of the board effective 1 April 2006. Liveris became CEO in 2004 after holding the position of chief operating officer (COO). Afterwards he served as executive chairman of DowDuPont. He is chairman of the board of Lucid Motors.
Jørgen Randers is a Norwegian academic, professor emeritus of climate strategy at the BI Norwegian Business School, and practitioner in the field of future studies. His professional field encompasses model-based future studies, scenario analysis, system dynamics, sustainability, climate, energy and ecological economics. He is also a full member of the Club of Rome, a company director, a member of various not-for-profit boards, a business consultant on global sustainability matters and an author. His publications include the seminal work The Limits to Growth (co-author), and Reinventing Prosperity. He served, between 1994 and 1999, as deputy director general of the World Wildlife Fund International.
Ajaypal Singh "Ajay" Banga is an Indian-born American business executive. He is currently the president of the World Bank Group. He was the executive chairman of Mastercard, after having previously served as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company from July 2010 until December 31, 2020. He retired from this position on December 31, 2021, and joined General Atlantic as its vice chairman.
Integrated reporting in corporate communication is a "process that results in communication, most visibly a periodic “integrated report”, about value creation over time. An integrated report is a concise communication about how an organization's strategy, governance, performance and prospects lead to the creation of value over the short, medium and long term."
Avoided Deforestation Partners, or AD Partners, is a non-profit organization under the auspices of the Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C. AD Partners is involved in the global effort to solve climate change by working to end deforestation in tropical rainforest countries. By avoiding the practice of deforestation, i.e., clearing forests to provide inexpensive farmland, potential carbon emissions are prevented. In addition, avoiding deforestation also allows forests to sequester carbon and scrub the air of pollutants. Beyond protecting the Earth's air quality, tropical forests facilitate conditions for rain, replenish water sources, provide habitats for myriad plant and animal species, and sustain the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people globally. Leading scientists and economists say that ending deforestation is the most cost effective and scalable method of reducing greenhouse gases. In fact, they believe that ending deforestation will cut the timeframe for solving the climate crisis in half.
Mark Cutifani is an Australian businessman and current chairman of the energy transition metals board at Vale Base Metals. He is the Senior Independent Director with Laing O'Rourke and chairs the board's Sustainability Committee. He is also a non-executive director of Total S.A and chairs the board's Sustainability Committee.
François Adrianus "Frans" van Houten is a Dutch businessman. He served as the CEO of Royal Philips Electronics from 1 April 2011 to 15 October 2022.
James Eugene Rogers Jr. was an American businessman and author. He was president and CEO of Duke Energy, the largest electrical utility in the U.S., from April, 2006 until July 1, 2013. He stayed on as Chairman of the Board until retiring the following December. His book, Lighting the World, which explores the issues involved in bringing electricity to over 1.2 billion people on earth who lack it, was published August 25, 2015, by St. Martin's Press. The book asserts that access to electricity should be recognized as a basic human right.
The B Team is a global nonprofit initiative co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. It advocates for business practices that are more centered on humanity and the climate.
Emmanuel Faber is a French businessman. He was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Danone, and the Chairman of the Board of directors. He was subsequently appointed Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board.
Sir David John Lewis is an English businessman. He is the former CEO of Tesco, serving from 2014 to 2020. Prior to joining Tesco, he was president of global personal care at Unilever. Sir David has served as Director of The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales since his appointment in July 2024.
Feike Sijbesma is a Dutch business executive who was CEO and chairman of the managing board of DSM from 2007 until 2020. And in 2022, he was nominated as honorary chairman. He helped the Dutch government from March to September 2020 as special voluntary corona envoy, especially focused on testing policy and availability. From mid 2020, Sijbesma focuses on several board positions and the African malnutrition issue and climate (adaptation).
Keith Charles Frederick Weed is Unilever's former CMCO, a role he held from 2010 to 2019. In 2020, Weed was appointed President and Chairman of the Royal Horticultural Society. In addition to this, he currently holds various trustee and non-executive director roles.
Sanjiv Mehta is an Indian business executive, and the former chairman and managing director (MD) of Hindustan Unilever Limited, India's largest fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company and one of the top five most valuable companies in India. Mehta became the CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever in October 2013, and in June 2018 was appointed chairman. He also heads Unilever's business in South Asia, as cluster president encompassing businesses in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Mehta is a member of the Unilever leadership executive, its global executive board.
Margaretha (Marga) Jeannette Elizabeth Hoek, is a Dutch businesswoman, speaker, and author. She is a global sustainability thought leader, Board Member, and Chairwoman. Following a career as a three-time CEO, she dedicated herself to sustainable business as the Founder and CEO of the Dutch Sustainable Business Association De Groene Zaak from 2009 to 2017 which later merged with MVO Netherlands.
{{cite news}}
: |author=
has generic name (help)