Leena Joins List Of Indian-Origin CEOs

Leena Nair has been elevated as the CEO of French Luxury group Chanel in less than a month after Parag Agrawal was chosen to head Twitter by Jack Dorsey. Two years ago, Sundar Pichai, an Indian, became the boss at Alphabet and later, Satya Nadella, was anointed as the chief of Microsoft.

Chanel named Unilever executive Nair, based in London, as its new global chief executive.

In a statement, the group said that French billionaire Alain Wertheimer, who owns Chanel, along with his brother Gerard Wertheimer, would now be global executive chairman.

The group exuded confidence that the 52-year-old would be able to deliver business with desired results when associated with the luxury brand, even while retaining a humane and compassionate approach.

Chanel’s statement remarked on Nair’s “global reputation for progressive and human centered leadership, delivering significant business impact.” In the statement, the group described Nair as a “visionary leader whose ability to champion a long-term, purpose-driven agenda is matched with a consistently strong record of business outcomes.”

The French luxury brand, known for quilted handbags, tweed suits and No. 5 perfume, said Nair would join the group in January.

Meanwhile, Unilever CEO Jope thanked Nair for her “outstanding contribution”. At Unilever, the global consumer goods giant, Nair served for 30 years and recently, she held key positions like the chief of human resources and a member of Unilever’s executive committee.

Nair also has the distinction of being the first female, first Asian and youngest ever chief human resources officer of Unilever. She joined the global consumer goods company in 1992 after passing out from Xavier School of Management with a gold medal.

Jope was all praises for Nair and said that “Leena has been a pioneer throughout her career at Unilever, but no more so than in her role as CHRO, where she has been a driving force on our equity, diversity and inclusion agenda and on our preparedness for the future of work.”

“Nair’s leadership helped the HR teams in Unilever to manage the challenges during Covid-19 pandemic with great care, compassion and professionalism.”