Story of the Week (DR):

Nestlé chief executive sacked over affair with junior colleague MM

Laurent Freixe dismissed after boardroom inquiry revealed ‘undisclosed romantic relationship’

Nestlé chief ‘promoted junior colleague he had affair with’

Nestle CEO axed after probe into complaints of favouritism, CFO says

CFO Anna Manz said the relationship between Freixe and the employee, who has not been named, was first examined in an internal investigation following concerns raised via Nestle's internal reporting system, called Speak Up.

The matter was investigated by the board, but no evidence was found, she said.

"And it was at that point that Laurent also made a personal statement stating that there had been no such thing," Manz said, referring to the concerns about Freixe raised by whistleblowers.

But complaints continued to be made, Manz said, leading to a second, broader inquiry being launched with help from Swiss lawyers Baer & Karrer.

Nestlé fired its scandal-clad CEO without a payout—a ‘really unusual’ move, corporate governance expert says

Nell Minow: “That is really unusual. I think that’s actually a badge of success for corporate governance, because that’s something investors have been concerned about for a long time: CEOs being dismissed and somehow getting to stay on.”

Who is the board? It’s basically Paul Bulcke

Chair since 2017

CEO from 2008-2016

Longest-tenured director (2008) by 7 years

At the company since 1979

Kroger’s ex-CEO won’t have to detail ’embarrassing’ thing he did to get fired, for now

Tech CEOs Take Turns Praising Trump at White House Dinner (32% dropout/11% F)

Tim Cook (Apple CEO)

*Mark Zuckerberg (Meta Emperor)

Sundar Pichai (CEO Google CEO)

‘I’m glad it’s over.’ Google CEO thanks Trump for antitrust 'resolution'

Alphabet this week added $230 billion to its market cap after avoiding a breakup in a landmark antitrust case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020.

Sergey Brin (Google/Alphabet co-founder)

Satya Nadella (CEO Microsoft CEO)

*Bill Gates (Microsoft Founder)

*Sam Altman (CEO OpenAI CEO)

*Greg Brockman (Co-founder/President, OpenAI)

Safra Catz (Oracle CEO)

Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron Technology CEO)

Vivek Ranadivé (TIBCO Chair)

Shyam Sankar (Palantir CTO)

David Limp (CEO Blue Origin)

*Alexandr Wang (Meta Chief AI Officer)

*Jared Isaacman (Shift4 Payments founder/Chair)

Jason Chang (CSBio CEO)

Nathalie Dompé (Dompé farmaceutici co-CEO and nepobaby)

*Dylan Field (Figma CEO)

*John Hering (Lookout founder/Chair)

Sunny Madra (Groq COO)

Chamath Palihapitiya (CEO Social Capital)

Mark Pincus (Zynga founder)

David Sacks (PayPal Mafia)

Jamie Siminoff (Ring founder)

^Lisa Su (AMD CEO)

Elon Musk

Tesla Plans to Pay Elon Musk 1,000 Billion Dollars—More Than Switzerland’s GDP—In a Deal Tied to Sci-Fi-Level Goals

Tesla's nearly $1 trillion new pay plan for Musk would expand his voting power

Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm said the plan was designed to keep the CEO “motivated and focused on delivering for the company.” Denholm confirmed that the Tesla CEO pay plan, if approved by shareholders, would not put any limit on where and how Musk spends his time or require him to spend any minimum number of hours per week on Tesla business.

Musk and Denholm not up for vote

ESG in Pop Culture:

Internet sleuths reveal millionaire CEO is 'jerk' tennis fan who snatched US Open star's hat away from child

The luxury life of the 'most hated man on the internet' who lives in 'village of millionaires' is revealed... as even his own countrymen turn on him

After Name Mix-Up, Online Rage Is Directed at Wrong C.E.O. in U.S. Open Hat Scandal

The chief executive of the Polish company Drogbruk was captured on video snatching a hat in front of a child. The head of Drog-Bruk, a different firm, is getting attacked. The executives also have similar surnames.

Turkish CEO Throws Flower Pot At Employee After Argument, Issues Apology

Nestle fires CEO, Trump’s tech dinner, Harvard wins, and Norway not allowed to divest