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Peter Brabeck-Letmathe

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Peter Brabeck-Letmathe
Born (1944-11-13) 13 November 1944 (age 80)
Villach, Nazi Germany (now Austria)
Alma materVienna University of Economics and Business Administration
Occupation(s)Chairman emeritus, Nestlé
chairman, Formula One Group
Years activeSince 1965

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe (born 13 November 1944) is an Austrian businessman. He is the chairman emeritus, former chairman and CEO (1997–2008) of the Nestlé Group,[1] and former chairman of Formula One.[2]

Early life

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Brabeck-Letmathe was born in Villach, Austria, into a family with its origins in Iserlohn-Letmathe in north-western Germany. He studied economics at the University of World Trade (today Vienna University of Economics and Business).

Early career at Nestlé

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He joined Nestlé in 1968 in Austria as a salesman, later becoming a specialist for new products. His career within the group included a span of almost 10 years in Chile (1970–1980), first as national sales manager and later as director of marketing. In 1981, he was appointed managing director of Nestlé Ecuador and in 1983, president and managing director of Nestlé Venezuela. In October 1987, he was transferred to Nestlé's international headquarters in Vevey. As senior vice-president in charge of the Culinary Products Division, he had worldwide responsibility for that business area. On 1 January 1992, Brabeck-Letmathe was appointed executive vice-president of Nestlé S.A., with global responsibility for the Strategic Business Group encompassing food, Buitoni pasta, chocolate and confectionery, ice cream, pet food, and industrial products (aromas). At the same time, he had worldwide responsibility for marketing, communications and public affairs. In particular, during his time as executive vice-president, he conceived and implemented the unique branding policy of Nestlé, characterized by a strict hierarchy of strategic brands on the global, regional and local level.

CEO of Nestlé

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On 5 June 1997, he was elected to the board of directors, and appointed chief executive officer of Nestlé S.A. On 6 April 2001, the board of directors elected him as vice-chairman, and in April 2005, chairman of the board. His earnings in 2006 were approximately 14 million Swiss francs (9 million euro).[citation needed]

In 2008, Brabeck-Letmathe stepped down as CEO.[3]

Views on water charges

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Brabeck-Letmathe (credited as Peter Brabeck) appeared in the 2005 documentary We Feed the World and while speaking on the subject of water, he said "It's a question of whether we should privatize the normal water supply for the population. And there are two different opinions on the matter. The one opinion, which I think is extreme, is represented by the NGOs, who bang on about declaring water a public right. That means that as a human being you should have a right to water. That's an extreme solution. The other view says that water is a foodstuff like any other, and like any other foodstuff it should have a market value." He added, "Personally, I believe it's better to give a foodstuff a value so that we're all aware it has its price, and then that one should take specific measures for the part of the population that has no access to this water."[4][5] Following controversy on social media about these remarks, he stated that he does believe that water for basic hygiene and drinking is indeed a human right. He went on to say that his remarks were intended to address overconsumption by some while others suffered from lack of water and further that his remarks were taken out of context by the documentary.[6][7]

Other

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Brabeck-Letmathe was on the board of directors of Credit Suisse Group, L'Oréal, and ExxonMobil. He is also a member of ERT (European Round Table of Industrialists) and a member of the foundation board of the World Economic Forum. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum.[8] He was chairman of Formula One Group.[citation needed]

According to Euronews, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe is a close friend of Konstantin Sidorov, founder and CEO of London Technology Club.[9]

Selected bibliography

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  • 2014: Business in a Changing Society (ISBN 9783038100126)
  • 2016: Nutrition for a Better Life (ISBN 9783593434377)

References

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  1. ^ "Peter Brabeck-Letmathe". HuffPost. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  2. ^ Elizalde, Pablo. "Nestlé's Peter Brabeck becomes Formula 1 chairman ahead of flotation". Autosport. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  3. ^ "Peter Brabeck: 'To Enjoy Life, You Need to Enjoy Food'" Archived 17 December 2012 at archive.today, Daniel Huber. Credit Suisse. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2011
  4. ^ "Nestlé CEO Peter Brabeck". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
  5. ^ Muir, Paul. "The human rights and wrongs of Nestlé and water for all". Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  6. ^ McGraw, George (25 April 2013). "Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck Says We Don't Have a Right to Water, Believes We Do Have a Right to Water and Everyone's Confused. (Video)". HuffPost. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Addressing the Water Challenge"
  8. ^ "Leadership and Governance - World Economic Forum".
  9. ^ "Caviar with compassion will revolutionise the delicacy". euronews. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
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