Paul Polman

Paul Polman
Polman in 2014
Born
Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman

(1956-07-11) 11 July 1956
Enschede, Netherlands
Education
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1979–present
TitleFormer CEO, Unilever
Term2009–2019
PredecessorPatrick Cescau
SuccessorAlan Jope
SpouseKim Polman
Children3
Websitepaulpolman.com

Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman (born 11 July 1956)[1] is a Dutch business executive and author. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Unilever from 2009 to 2019.[2][3]

Following his departure from Unilever, Polman became active in sustainable finance and impact investing. He co-founded Imagine in 2019,[4] and has served on the Global Advisory Board of TPG’s Rise Funds alongside Bono and Jeffrey Skoll.[5] He serves as co-chair of EQT Future Mission Board with Jacob Wallenberg.[6] Polman is also the co-author of Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take.[7]

Early life and education

Polman was born and raised in Enschede, Netherlands, in a Catholic family with three brothers and two sisters. His father was a tire company executive, and his mother was a former school teacher.[8] He has said that he briefly considered becoming a priest as a teenager.[9]

He initially hoped to study medicine, but was not selected through the medical school lottery.[8] He instead attended the University of Groningen, graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in 1977.[10]

In 1979, he completed a master’s degree in economics and a Master of Business Administration in finance and international marketing at the University of Cincinnati.[11]

Polman received an honorary doctorate from the University of Groningen in June 2014, during its 400th anniversary celebrations.[12]

In May 2018, he received a second honorary doctorate from George Mason University, where he also delivered the commencement address, speaking on social inclusion, responsibility, and collective action.[13]

Career

Procter & Gamble

Polman worked for Procter & Gamble (P&G) for 27 years, starting in 1979 as a cost analyst. He later served as managing director of P&G UK from 1995 to 1998, president of global fabric care from 1998 to 2001, and group president for P&G Europe in 2001.[14]

Nestlé

Polman joined Nestlé in 2006 as chief financial officer. In February 2008, he became vice president and head of the Americas branch.[15][16][17]

Unilever

On 1 January 2009, Polman succeeded Patrick Cescau as chief executive officer of Unilever. During his tenure, the company launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, a strategy intended to reduce the company's environmental footprint while increasing its social initiatives.[18]

He discontinued short-term earnings guidance, stating that quarterly targets encouraged decisions that harmed long-term performance. Polman also said he aimed to increase the share of Unilever’s sales in emerging markets from 57 percent (up from 47 percent in 2008) to 70 percent.[19]

In 2013 and 2014, Unilever missed sales targets in six of eight quarters, prompting criticism from some shareholders, who questioned Polman’s emphasis on sustainability. Polman attributed the shortfalls to currency fluctuations and slower growth in emerging markets rather than company strategy.[20]

In 2016, Polman’s total compensation was €8.3 million, including a base salary of €1.2 million.[21]

A 2017 Bernstein report ranked Unilever first among peers for market-share gains not driven by acquisitions and rated the company “Outperform".[22]

In 2018, the Financial Times reviewed Polman's ten-year term as chief executive.[3]

Also in 2018, Unilever supported the abolition of the Dutch dividend tax,[23] despite public opposition in the Netherlands.[24]

In October 2018, Unilever cancelled plans to relocate its headquarters from London to Rotterdam.[25]

In November 2018, it was announced that Polman would step down as chief executive officer, with Alan Jope named as his successor, effective 1 January 2019.[26]

Systemiq / Imagine World

In July 2019, Polman co-founded Imagine World, an organization focused on poverty and climate change. The entity works with corporations on initiatives related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In 2022, Imagine World was acquired by Systemiq, with Polman remaining a board member as well as a major shareholder.[27] Systemiq, a certified B-Corporation, is an environmental consultancy firm headquartered in London, focused on managing and promoting responsible change as well as performing research on climate topics.[28]

Other activities

Polman is a former [29] chair of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and sat on the board of directors of the Consumer Goods Forum,[30] leading its sustainability efforts. He is also a member of board of the UN Global Compact.[31] At the invitation of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Polman was one of the 27 members of the UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. At the invitation of former Mexican President Felipe Calderón, Polman was on the International Council of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.[32]

He has co-authored a report published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) that criticizes the efforts of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as not ambitious enough. Instead of aiming for an end to poverty by 2030, the report, "An Ambitious Development Goal: Ending Hunger and Undernutrition by 2025", called for a greater emphasis on eliminating hunger and undernutrition and achieving this goal by 2025.[33]

Polman co-founded the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition, led by former Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende. He is a member of the World Economic Forum International Business Council[34] and the Global Taskforce for Scaling up Nutrition (SUN)[35], and he was part of the European Resource Efficiency Platform Working Group,[36] chaired by European Commissioner Janez Potočnik. He was co-chair of the World Economic Forum 2012. He is a counsellor of One Young World[37] and trustee of the Leverhulme Trust. Polman was co-chair of the B-20 Food Security Taskforce.[38] Polman was on the board of Unilever from 2009 to 2019. He was formerly on the boards of Dow and Alcon. Polman is also part of the Leadership Vanguard, an initiative that seeks to identify, support, and mobilize the next generation of leaders, focusing on redefining value.[39] He has been a member of IESE's International Advisory Board (IAB)[40] since 2015.

He is president of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, a foundation he created alongside fellow climber Erik Weihenmayer to benefit blind children in Africa, and chair of the Perkins International Advisory Board.[41]

In 2016, Polman was selected by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to be an SDG Advocate, tasked with helping build widespread support for the UN's SDGs.[42] He was again appointed in 2019 by the current Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres.[43]

Polman is co-chair of the Global Commission for the Economy and Climate, with Nicholas Stern and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.[44]

He is a member of The B Team, chairing the group from August 2018 to September 2021.[45]

In 2019, Polman was appointed as Chair of the Board for University of Oxford, Saїd Business School.[46]

In 2024, Polman appeared as himself in the Netflix documentary Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy. [47]

Personal life

Polman is married to Kim Polman, with whom he has three sons.[48]

Selected awards

Polman has received numerous awards for his leadership and efforts in sustainable development, including:

References

  1. ^ Pitts, Gordon (10 March 2013). "Paul Polman: Rebuilding capitalism from the basics". The Globe and Mail.
  2. ^ "Paul Polman". Unilever global company website. Archived from the original on 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  3. ^ a b Polman, Paul; Eden, Lorraine (2023-11-29). "Imagine a Better World: An Interview with Paul Polman, AIB 2023 International Executive of the Year". AIB Insights. 23 (5). doi:10.46697/001c.90323.
  4. ^ "Unilever's Former Chief Moves On With Plan to Fix the World". Bloomberg. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Global Advisory Board". TPG. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  6. ^ EQT. "EQT launches impact-driven longer-hold fund". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
  7. ^ "Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take". Net Positive. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  8. ^ a b Saunders, Andrew (1 March 2011). "The MT Interview: Paul Polman of Unilever". Management Today. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  9. ^ "The parable of St Paul". The Economist. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  10. ^ Daneshkhu, Scheherazade; Skapinker, Michael (29 September 2016). "Can Unilever's Paul Polman change the way we do business?". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  11. ^ Hill, Andrew (2018-03-19). "Business school: Theranos, leadership at McAfee, Unilever's HQ". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  12. ^ "Paul Polman | Profile | Organisation / FEB | FEB | About us | University of Groningen". www.rug.nl. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  13. ^ "Unilever CEO Paul Polman on finding career success and encouraging corporate responsibility". www2.gmu.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
  14. ^ Coolidge, Alexander. "Unilever boss learned lessons from stint at P&G". The Enquirer. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  15. ^ [1] Archived 18 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Laurent, Lionel. "From P&G To Nestle CEO In 2 Years?". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  17. ^ Mason, Rowena (2008-09-04). "Unilever shares jump as it poaches Paul Polman as CEO from Nestle". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  18. ^ "Sustainable Living". Unilever. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  19. ^ "Paul Polman's socially responsible Unilever falls short on growth". Financial Times. 9 February 2015.
  20. ^ Jolly, David (2016-03-11). "Unilever slides on emerging market slowdown". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
  21. ^ Susan Fenton. "Unilever seeks changes to pay to give managers owner's mindset". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  22. ^ Geller, Martinne (February 1, 2018). "Unilever ends 2017 strongly but investors unimpressed". Reuters. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
  23. ^ "Unilever CEO Polman defends Dutch gov't's cut to dividend tax". NASDAQ. 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  24. ^ "Topman Unilever: 'Goed dat Nederland dividendtaks afschaft'" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  25. ^ Wood, Zoe (2018-10-05). "Unilever scraps plan to move HQ from London to Rotterdam". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  26. ^ "Unilever CEO retires after headquarters row, replaced by insider Jope". Reuters. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  27. ^ Fayed, Salsabil; Witteman, Lise (2023-07-19). "Former Unilever CEO fronts lobby for pesticide industry". Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  28. ^ "SYSTEMIQ | The system change company". SYSTEMIQ. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  29. ^ "Sunny Verghese appointed as new chair of World Business Council for Sustainable Development". Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  30. ^ "Board of The Consumer Goods Forum". Theconsumergoodsforum.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  31. ^ "United Nations Global Compact". Unglobalcompact.org. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  32. ^ "Commission on the Economy and Climate". New Climate Economy. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  33. ^ Fan, Shenggen and Polman, Paul. 2014. An ambitious development goal: Ending hunger and undernutrition by 2025 Archived 2017-10-19 at the Wayback Machine. In the 2013 Global Food Policy Report. Eds. Marble, Andrew, and Fritschel, Heidi. Chapter 2. Pp 15-28. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  34. ^ "The World Economic Forum". Weforum.org. 5 April 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  35. ^ "Scaling Up Nutrition". Scaling Up Nutrition. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  36. ^ "European Resource Efficiency Platform - European Commission". Ec.europa.eu. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  37. ^ "Where Young Leaders Start Leading". One Young World. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  38. ^ "Cinépolis". B20.org. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  39. ^ "This page has been removed". Retrieved 10 January 2018 – via www.theguardian.com.
  40. ^ Members of IESE's International Advisory Board, iese.edu
  41. ^ Chrein, Lloyd (2016-08-15). "Who is Paul Polman?". The HOW Institute for Society. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  42. ^ "Secretary-General appoints advocates to build widespread support for the Sustainable Development Goals". 19 January 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  43. ^ "United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has Appointed New Sustainable Development Goals Advocates". The Global Goals. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  44. ^ "Members of the Global Commission". NewClimateEconomy.net. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  45. ^ "The B Team | The B Team Welcomes New CEO, Chair and Vice-Chair". The B Team. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  46. ^ "Saїd Business School announces Paul Polman as Board Chair | Saïd Business School". www.sbs.ox.ac.uk. 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  47. ^ "The Makers of Netflix's Buy Now! Talk About How to Fight Our Shopping Addiction".
  48. ^ Cave, Andrew (8 August 2009). "Paul Polman is taking a stand and delivering at Unilever". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  49. ^ "2012 Award". Responsible Capitalism. 13 May 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  50. ^ "2014 Rainforest Alliance Gala: Paul Polman Accepts Lifetime Achievement Award". Rainforest Alliance. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  51. ^ "University for a Night 2014 : April 8 in New York City" (PDF). Synergos.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  52. ^ "2014 Annual Graduation Ceremony of Business School Lausanne". Business School Lausanne. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  53. ^ "Ad Council's 64th Annual Public Service Award Dinner To Honor Unilever CEO Paul Polman". Archived from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  54. ^ Lee, Marissa (18 March 2016). "Two business leaders receive Singapore's Public Service Star award". The Straits Times. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  55. ^ "Honorary Awards" (PDF). Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  56. ^ "Treaties of Nijmegen Medal awarded to Paul Polman". Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  57. ^ "Paulus Polman: oration". www.bath.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  58. ^ Environment, U. N. (22 August 2019). "Paul Polman". Champions of the Earth.
  59. ^ "AIB Fellows: Paul Polman". Academy of International Business (AIB). Retrieved 2024-01-10.

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