Nestlé suggests Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch and Rainer Blair as fresh independents for its Board of Directors.
Rainer Blair, the president and chief executive officer of the international science and technology corporation Danaher Corporation, and Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch, a former state secretary and the director of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), have been proposed by Nestlé for election to the board of directors. At the company’s annual general meeting (AGM), which will be held on April 20, 2023, the elections will take place.
Eva Cheng, who has served on the Board for ten years, has made the decision not to run for re-election for personal reasons. The Chairman and all other Board members will each be put up for reelection.
Paul Bulcke, chairman of the Nestlé Board of Directors, said, “On behalf of the entire Board, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Eva Cheng for her strong engagement and her extremely significant contributions, particularly in building our business in China. “We are happy to suggest two new Board members at the same time. In addition to having extensive operational and strategic knowledge, Rainer Blair provides 30 years of rich and varied executive experience across sectors. He will add to the technological and scientific knowledge on our Board. Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch will increase the Board’s understanding of geopolitics and international trade because she has extensive expertise in this field.”
The recommended nominations will bring the Nestlé Board’s membership to 15, with 13 independent directors. Nestlé aspires to consistently bolster its Board with individuals with a variety of backgrounds, including those with experience in food systems, food and beverage, digitalization, marketing, and sustainability.
Rainer Blair, an American citizen who was born in Germany, is a strong leader with experience in a variety of industries and regions. In 2010, Rainer Blair began working for the creative $30 billion growing firm Danaher Corporation. As a result of his efforts, Danaher’s yearly revenues rose from over USD 2 billion in 2014 to over USD 15 billion in 2018. Since 2020, Rainer Blair has served as the president and CEO of Danaher. The business has a strong history of developing, producing, and marketing expert, medical, industrial, and commercial goods and services. Rainer Blair previously served as president and chief executive officer of MAPEI Americas, a multinational manufacturer of chemical goods. He worked with BASF Group for 15 years in a variety of executive positions across three continents.
The lawyer Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch has a wealth of knowledge on international organisations and international trade. From 2011 to 2022, she worked for the Swiss government as State Secretary and Director of SECO. She served as the Head of the Global Trade Division, a member of SECO’s Executive Management, and Switzerland’s Ambassador and Delegate for Trade Agreements at the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 2007 to 2011. She formerly held a number of jobs at the World Bank in the United States, the Swiss Federal Office of Foreign Economic Affairs (SECO), and McKinsey & Company in Switzerland.
