CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble Co. has announced a change at the top: Chief Operating Officer Jon Moeller will replace David Taylor as CEO in November.
“Jon has been an integral part of P&G's leadership team for well over two decades,” said James McNerney, lead director of P&G’s board, in a press release. “He is an outstanding leader, and the company will benefit from his ongoing leadership to build on the strong momentum he has helped create over the last few years.”
Taylor, 62, will continue to lead P&G’s board as executive chairman, while Moeller will be replaced by Shailesh Jejurikar as chief operating officer October 1.
“It has been an honor of a lifetime being the CEO of P&G,” Taylor said in a press release. “The board and I are confident the time is right to transition the role of CEO, and I look forward to supporting Jon, Shailesh and the entire team as they continue to raise the bar to win with consumers and customers around the world and deliver sustained excellence.”
Moeller, 57, is a Cornell University graduate who joined P&G as a cost analyst in 1988. Moeller was chief financial officer when Taylor replaced A.G. Lafley in 2015. Both men spent the early years of Taylor’s tenture defending the company against activist investors who were dissatisfied with the company’s lack of growth.
That led to a 2017 proxy fight in which activist investor Nelson Peltz pushed for major structural changes that P&G opposed, arguing it could be a first step toward breaking up the company. After P&G shareholders defeated Peltz’s proposals, Taylor invited his critic to join the company’s board.
P&G shares have increased in value by more than 50 percent since then, as P&G gained market share and boosted sales with an innovation strategy that re-established its brands as market leaders.
“I am honored to serve as P&G’s CEO,” Moeller said in the P&G press release. “My confidence in the future is rooted in my confidence in P&G people. They are committed to lead, motivated to win, and have a strong focus on sustained excellence in everything we do—serving consumers and delivering for shareholders through an integrated strategy that is delivering balanced growth and value creation.”
