This year, 4 Spaniards reached the top of multinationals as recognizable as Nestle, Ikea, Decathlon And Pandora. Pablo Isla, Juvencio Maeztu, Javier López and, starting next January 1, Berta de Pablos – Barbier hold or will hold the maximum executive responsibility in these companies, either as president or general manager. All 4 meet at least one of these two conditions: they are what we call ‘house profiles’‘and they have a vast international experience behind him. The “2025 harvest” joins the select club of Spaniards, who run large international companies and include names such as Belén Garijo (Merck), Enrique Lorès (Hewlett-Packard), Ramon Laguarta (PepsiCo), Joaquin Duato (Johnson & Johnson) or Federico J. Gonzalez Knitter (Radisson Hotel Group), among others.
Pablo Islas (Nestlé): A curvy landing
The most media-oriented is Pablo Islandwho was president of Inditex between 2011 and 2022. In addition to CEO and vice president of the textile group between 2005 and 2011. In both positions he succeeded Amancio Ortega, founder of the company. Before arriving at headquarters, Arteixo had been executive president of Altadis between 2002 and 2005. This state lawyer has chaired Nestlé since October 1 succeeding Paul Bulcke, after having been linked since 2018 to the governing body of the multinational based in Vevey in Switzerland as an administrator and, since 2024, as vice-president. The landing was somewhat bumpy, as the transition was brought forward by six months according to the schedule initially planned after the outbreak of the scandal over the romantic relationship between the former CEO of the food group Laurent Freixe and a direct subordinate. An “affair” which ended with his dismissal and the arrival of Philippe Navratil as the new CEO.
Pablo Isla has chaired Nestlé since October 1, although he is expected to be appointed independent director of the management body in 2018. His arrival, brought forward after the “affair” of former CEO Laurent Freixe, began with the announcement of a reduction of 16,000 positions until 2027.
If the landing of Isla was not free of turbulence, the first steps were not easy either. Barely 15 days later, Navratil opened Pandora’s box and announced the multinational’s plan to cut 16,000 jobs over the next two years (including 12,000 in administrative tasks and the rest in production). The objective is reduce costs by around 1,075 million euros in 2027or a little over a billion Swiss francs. This has sowed concern among the 4,060 workers in Nestlé Spain who, according to sources consulted by this media, They still don’t know the “fine print” of these adjustments for its Spanish subsidiary. The new CEO justified this decision by the drop in sales recorded during the first nine months of the year, which represented a loss of 1,290 million euros, according to Navratil. An announcement which was greeted with loud applause from the markets and an 8% increase in stock markets.
A Spaniard at the head of the “IKEA world”
The journey of Juvencio Maeztu (Cádiz, 1968) as global CEO of Ikea since the beginning of November. He happens to be the first non-Swede to lead it. In an interview with ‘La Información Económica’, he summarized his objectives as follows: “My biggest priority in the coming years is grow and grow in mature and new markets. He also added that his other two major goals would be “to be more efficient as a company”, as well as “much more agile and simpler”. Maeztu combines the two characteristics that unite these 4 senior managers: he has experience outside Spain, having been a store manager in Wembley (UK) and led the implementation of IKEA in India between 2012 and 2018. But he is above all a “house man” as he joined IKEA in 2001 and held positions as diverse as store manager and deputy general manager between 2018 and 2025. “I started at IKEA 25 years ago, because my wife worked at IKEA and I was attracted to it,” he commented when asked about his arrival at the company.
“I started at IKEA 25 years ago, because my wife worked at IKEA and I was attracted to it,” said new IKEA Global CEO Juvencio Maeztu in an interview with ‘La Información Económica’.
Javier López, “a decathlete with 26 years of experience”
This year has also been full of changes for the French company Decathlon. The sports equipment giant announced on March 27 the appointment of Julien Leclercq as president of the Decathlon Group and the replacement of the Franco-Spanish Barbara Martin Coppola, at the head of the company from 2022. Martín Coppola’s successor has been appointed Javier Lopez. This Spanish executive knows the innards of the French company founded in 1976 well, having been linked to it for 26 years where he held different positions in fields as diverse as digital, logistics and retail. The new senior manager led Decathlon Germany between 2012 and 2015, in addition to occupying senior management of the Spanish subsidiary from 2015 to 2022 promoting strong expansion in the Spanish market. For 3 years, he held the position of Global Chief Value Chain Officer.
On the day of his appointment, the new CEO declared that “as a decathlete with 26 years of experience, I am proud of the work we have accomplished over the years, to bring the benefits of sport to more and more people around the world. » López’s objective was to stimulate the economic development of this sportswear giant and to fulfill its human and environmental commitments. a turnover of 16.2 billion euros3.8% more than the previous year, after adjusting for unfavorable exchange rates.
Berta De Pablos-Barbier, future CEO of Pandora, arrived at the Danish group in November 2024 as marketing director, but between 2020 and 2025 she was already president and CEO of Moët & Chandon (LVMH Group)
From Moët&Chandon to Pandora
Like Pablo Isla at Nestlé, the Spanish Berta De Pablos-Barber will assume the role of CEO of Pandora in advance. He will do it 3 months before, on January 1st. The Copenhagen-based jewelry group employs 37,000 people and its pieces, made from recycled silver and gold, are sold in more than 100 countries. Last year, turnover amounted to 4.2 billion euros. De Pablos-Barbier declared on December 15 that “its immediate objective will be to deal with the current market turbulence as we prepare to leverage our untapped opportunities as a comprehensive jewelry brand and drive long-term growth. » Although Pandora’s next CEO lands at the brand in November 2024, as CMO she accumulates a rich international experience. For example, before the Danish company, she was CEO of Moët & Chandon (LVMH Group) between 2020 and 2024, as well as director of growth of the multinational confectionery Mars Wringley (2015-2020) and general marketing director of Lacoste in 2012.
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