The real-world succession continues at Estée Lauder.
The successor was revealed shortly after WWD reported that executive vice president and chief financial officer Tracy Travis plans to retire next year.
The company said Tuesday that Akhil Shrivastava has been appointed executive vice president and chief financial officer, in the same role as Travis, reporting to Executive Chairman William P. Lauder and President and CEO Fabrizio Freda.
Shrivastava will assume his new role on November 1. Travis will remain with the company to support the transition until his retirement on June 30, 2025.
“With more than 25 years of extensive financial and leadership experience, Akil is an exceptionally talented leader with the financial and strategic expertise and insight that has been critical in supporting our company over the past several years. He will play a key role in driving our strategic direction and decisions,” Freda said. “I look forward to partnering with Akil as we continue to rebuild for stronger, more sustainable profitability and accelerated sales growth across our businesses.”
Mr. Shrivastava is no stranger to the company, having held several key finance roles since joining the company in 2015. Most recently, he was appointed Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller for Lauder, where he also oversees the operational excellence pillar as part of the company’s profit recovery and growth plan focused on driving significant improvements in inventory, cash and costs.
Prior to joining Lauder, Shrivastava spent 18 years at Procter & Gamble where he held a number of financial and leadership roles across Asia, North America and global operations, including as Finance Director for Gillette North America.
“I am honored to lead the global finance team at a company with iconic brands, extensive global reach and incredible talent,” Shrivastava said in a statement. “I look forward to helping drive the company’s multiple growth engines to rebuild stronger, more sustainable profitability and support accelerated sales growth across brands, product categories and geographies as we advance the business into the future.”
The beauty company is working to regain market share it lost after the Chinese market and travel retail failed to recover after the pandemic.
The company said it had reached a turning point for the quarter ended March 31, but analysts warned that the recovery would not be linear and that it needed a sharp recovery in sales in mainland China and the United States, where it is being overtaken by rivals and indie brands.
Indeed, sales at Lauder’s travel retail division finally grew after seven consecutive quarters of decline, and the company made progress in reducing inventory levels in its travel retail divisions in Asia, although net sales in mainland China fell short of expectations and were flat in North America.
