Nestlé’s CEO was abruptly fired after a senior executive, reportedly his longtime mistress, caught him with another employee in a Zurich hotel room and filed a complaint that triggered a rapid internal investigation.
The details were revealed in an explosive report published by Swiss outlet Inside Paradeplatz.
Laurent Freixe, 63, who led the world’s largest food company for less than a year, was terminated on September 1 after the company confirmed he had violated Nestlé’s code of conduct by failing to disclose a relationship with a direct report.
But behind the official explanation lies a scandal involving multiple affairs, corporate severance deals, and a dramatic confrontation that reportedly led top Nestlé executives to fire Freixe on the spot, calling him a ‘liar’ and demanding he hand over his phone.
The scandal began when a senior marketing executive, referred to by insiders as Freixe’s ‘main mistress’, walked in on him with another subordinate, then used Nestlé’s anonymous whistleblower hotline to report the CEO’s conduct.
Freixe received no severance package, despite nearly 40 years of service at the company.
Nestlé has confirmed his dismissal but has not commented on the specifics of the investigation or the claims involving multiple relationships.
The senior executive who filed the complaint, said to be the ‘main mistress’, has since taken on a new role at another major company and, according to Inside Paradeplatz, received a severance package related to the internal fallout.
Nestlé CEO, Laurent Freixe, who led the world’s largest food company for less than a year, was terminated on September 1 after the company confirmed he had violated Nestlé’s code of conduct by failing to disclose a relationship with a direct report
Freixe apparently met the marketing executive he was having an affair with at the company’s headquarters in Vevey in 2022
The second woman, the one allegedly caught with Freixe at the hotel, also left Nestlé and reportedly received a generous severance payout personally arranged by Freixe before his ouster, the outlet reported.
Nestlé has not publicly identified either woman or confirmed the nature of their departures.
The Swis outlet reported in July that Freixe ‘had allegedly fallen in love with a marketing employee at the company.’
The site claimed the pair first met in 2022 at the headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland.
About 18 months later, the woman became Vice President of Marketing for the Americas, when Freixe was running that division. It is suspected he personally approved the promotion, although that has not been confirmed.
It remains unclear if the two were in a relationship when she was promoted. The board was told about the romance in May after reports surfaced internally.
A Nestlé spokesperson told news agency AWP, according to SRF, that an initial inquiry ‘failed to substantiate the suspicion.’
After further information came in, a broader investigation confirmed the affair, but the company has not said how it gathered evidence.
When asked to comment, a Nestlé spokesperson told the Swiss publication, ‘Everything that needs to be said on the matter has been said, and I will not engage in further wild conjectures and speculation.’
Nestlé’s official statement said Freixe had been terminated for violating the company’s code of conduct, specifically citing his failure to disclose a personal relationship with a direct subordinate – a requirement under Nestlé’s internal ethics rules.
In internal communications, top executives emphasized that Nestlé’s 270,000 employees, including those at the very top, are subject to the same ethical standards.
Just days after his firing, Freixe resurfaced on LinkedIn with a cryptic post that appeared to reference his dramatic dismissal.
‘I got my mobile back, I am reachable anytime,’ he wrote.
He also posted a congratulatory message to his successor, Philipp Navratil but misspelled the name as ‘Philippe’, adding another layer of awkwardness to his attempted public reappearance.
The Swiss publication Inside Paradeplatz also suggested this was not Freixe’s first workplace romance.
A decade ago, he allegedly had an affair with a younger colleague while working for Nestlé in Hungary. In 2017, the two went public as a couple and later married, and she quit the company shortly afterwards.
Freixe joined Nestlé in 1986 and climbed the ranks during his 39-year career – he only managed to hold the top job for 12 months and will not receive severance pay
Freixe’s abrupt exit marks one of the fastest CEO collapses in Nestlé history, and has raised eyebrows across the Swiss corporate world, where high-profile executive scandals of this nature are rare.
Nestlé, known for household brands like Nespresso, KitKat and Perrier, is one of the most powerful consumer goods companies in the world.
But the revelations about Freixe’s conduct, and the sensational circumstances surrounding his ouster, have shaken even the upper ranks of Swiss business.
Nestlé has declined to provide any further comment.
Nestlé still dominates supermarket shelves in the US with brands like Gerber, Purina, Nescafé and KitKat, but its sales are slipping.
In July, global sales dropped 1.8 per cent. Rising production costs for sugary and caffeinated products from Central America have added pressure.
