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Paul Polman

Paul Polman
Paul Polman 2014.jpg
Paul Polman at the One Young World Conference in 2014
Born Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman
(1956-07-11) 11 July 1956 (age 60)
Enschede, Netherlands
Nationality Dutch
Alma mater University of Groningen
University of Cincinnati
Occupation Businessman
Years active 1979–present
Salary £6.9 million (total compensation, 2014)
Title CEO of Unilever
Term 2009-present
Predecessor Patrick Cescau
Successor Incumbent
Spouse(s) Kim
Children 3

Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman (born 11 July 1956) is a Dutch businessman. After a long-term tenure with Procter & Gamble, he joined the board of Nestlé in 2006. Since 2009 he has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of the British–Dutch consumer goods company Unilever. Polman has received several awards for business leadership related to sustainable development.

Polman was born and grew up in the Dutch city of Enschede, with three brothers and two sisters, the son of a tyre company executive father and a former schoolteacher mother. Polman had hoped to become a doctor, but medical school places were allocated by lottery and he was not chosen.

From the University of Groningen he gained a BBA/BA in 1977. From the University of Cincinnati he gained an MA in Economics and an MBA in Finance and International Marketing (both) in 1979.

Polman worked for Procter & Gamble for 27 years (from 1979), initially 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 Europe in 2001.

Polman then joined Nestlé in 2006 as chief financial officer and head of the Americas.

On 1 January 2009, Polman succeeded Patrick Cescau as chief executive officer of Unilever. Under Polman's leadership, Unilever has set a target to double its size while reducing its overall environmental footprint and improving its social impact through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. Polman has argued that, in a volatile world of finite resources, running a business sustainably is vital for long-term growth in emerging markets and it also mitigates risk and reduces costs. Some shareholders, however, have worried that Polman's approach to corporate social responsibility 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. He has set a target of increasing the company's sales in emerging markets from the current 57% (47% in 2008) to 80% of turnover. Procter & Gamble by contrast make only 37% of sales in emerging markets and Nestlé 43%. After sales rose 2.8% in the first quarter of 2015, Polman commented positively on the effect of past actions on future growth.


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