Irene Rosenfeld

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Irene Rosenfeld
Rosenfeld in 2009
Born
Irene Blecker

(1953-05-03) May 3, 1953 (age 70)
Westbury, New York, U.S.
Alma materCornell University
Occupation(s) Former chairman and CEO of
Mondelēz International
Years active1980s–present
SuccessorDirk Van de Put
SpouseRichard Illgen[1]
Children2 daughters

Irene Blecker Rosenfeld (born May 3, 1953) is an American businesswoman who was the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mondelēz International.[2] Rosenfeld's career began at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, a New York City advertising agency. She later joined General Foods consumer research, and then led Frito-Lay as CEO and chairwoman.[3]

Early life[edit]

Rosenfeld was born to a Jewish family in Westbury, New York, the daughter of Seymour and Joan Blecker. She has one younger sister, Linda Blecker. Her father's parents were Romanian Jews; her mother's grandparents were German Jews. She later attended W. Tresper Clarke High School in Westbury, NY.[4][5] She holds a PhD in marketing and statistics, a master's degree in business, and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Cornell University,[6] where she also excelled at sports, like basketball, volleyball and tennis, often serving as team captain, which she cites as "a key factor in my leadership development."[7]

Career[edit]

Rosenfeld has been involved in the food and beverage industry for about 30 years. Her first job was at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample advertising agency in New York City; she later joined General Foods in consumer research.[3]

In 2004, Rosenfeld was appointed chairwoman and CEO of Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo, where she focused on product promotion.[8]

Rosenfeld was appointed CEO of Kraft Foods In June 2006.[9] She joined General Foods which later became a part of Kraft. Among her many accomplishments at Kraft, she led the restructuring and turnaround of key business in the US, Canada and Moscow. She is active in a number of industry and community organisations, including the Economic Club of Chicago. She was appointed to the additional post of chairman in March 2007, following Altria Group's spin-off of Kraft.[citation needed]

In 2008, she was named sixth on The Wall Street Journal's "50 Women to Watch" list.[10] Rosenfeld has been listed multiple times as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world by Forbes[11][12] where she was ranked at 15th, just behind Oprah Winfrey, in 2014.[13]

In 2010, Rosenfeld earned total compensation of $19.3 million, placing her 48th on Forbes Executive Pay.[14]

Rosenfeld is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. She serves on the board of directors for the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Cornell University board of trustees. She sits on the board of directors of the Consumer Goods Forum.[15]

In August 2011, Kraft said it planned to split into two publicly traded companies, one focusing on its international snack brands like Trident gum and Oreo cookies and the other on its North American groceries business that includes Maxwell House coffee and Oscar Mayer meats.[16]

On December 5, 2011, Kraft announced that Rosenfeld would stay on as chairman of the $31 billion global snacking company, which would be called Mondelēz International, Inc. Tony Vernon, the president of Kraft Foods North America, would become CEO of the $17 billion North American grocery business, which would keep the Kraft Foods name.[17]

Mondelez announced in August 2017 that Dirk Van de Put would replace Rosenfeld as CEO of the company following her retirement in November 2017.[18][19]

Controversy[edit]

During campaigns for the 2016 US presidential election, Mondelēz and Rosenfeld were criticized by Republican candidate Donald Trump[20] and Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton[21] and Bernie Sanders[22] for outsourcing approximately 600 U.S. jobs from Chicago to Salinas, Mexico,[23] prompting the Oreo Boycott.[24] Worker pickets have also taken place at various events Rosenfeld has attended,[25] in addition to outside her own home.[26]

References[edit]

  1. ^ James Quinn in New York and Amy Wilson in London (December 6, 2009). "Irene Rosenfeld: Kraft Foods's chief executive has a history of high achievement". Telegraph.co.uk.
  2. ^ "Mondelez CEO Irene Rosenfeld to Step Down". fortune.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Alexandra Zendrian (October 25, 2010). "Next Week's Guest: Irene Rosenfeld". Forbes.com.
  4. ^ "Login". Timesonline.co.uk.
  5. ^ Sandro Rosell. "Jewish Voice". Jewishvoiceny.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  6. ^ "Executive profile: Irene B. Rosenfeld". Businessweek. Retrieved March 1, 2013.[dead link]
  7. ^ The Executives' Club of Chicago Exceptional Chicagoans: "Irene Rosenfeld", 2017. Archived copy
  8. ^ "Rosenfeld details Kraft Foods' dramatic turnaround". Cornell Chronicle. March 8, 2012.
  9. ^ "Irene RosenfeldChairman and CEO". June 15, 2009. Archived from the original on June 15, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  10. ^ "The Wall Street Journal 50 Women to Watch in 2008 - WSJ". WSJ. November 11, 2008.
  11. ^ "World's Most Powerful Women List 2010". Forbes.com.
  12. ^ "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes.com.
  13. ^ "The world's 100 most powerful women". Forbes.com. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  14. ^ Zina Moukheiber. "Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned". Forbes.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  15. ^ "History of The Consumer Goods Forum". Theconsumergoodsforum.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  16. ^ "Kraft Foods plans to split into 2 companies". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
  17. ^ York, Emily Bryson (December 5, 2011). "Kraft chooses leaders for separate companies". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012.
  18. ^ CNBC (August 2, 2017). "Dirk Van de Put named CEO of Mondelēz as long-time CEO Irene Rosenfeld retires". CNBC. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  19. ^ Gelles, David (November 14, 2017). "A Big Deal in Big Food, Irene Rosenfeld Retires From Mondelēz". The New York Times.
  20. ^ Goldman, David (March 11, 2016). "Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are angry about Oreos". Money.cnn.com. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  21. ^ "Hillary Clinton Targets Certain Companies in Critique of Corporate America". WSJ. March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  22. ^ Dellimore, Craig (March 2, 2016). "Sanders Camp Blasts Nabisco Plan To Move Hundreds Of Jobs To Mexico « CBS Chicago". Chicago.cbslocal.com. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  23. ^ Movement, The Made in America (August 3, 2015). "Nabisco to cut Chicago jobs, send some work to Mexico". The Made in America Movement. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  24. ^ Tribune, Chicago (August 9, 2015). "Chicago activist begins Oreo boycott to protest Mondelez layoff plans". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  25. ^ "Oreo bakery workers protest job cuts". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  26. ^ "Nabisco workers protest outside CEO's suburban home - Story | WFLD". Fox32chicago.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2017.

External links[edit]

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