The American perfume and cosmetics group announced Monday, December 22, the appointment of Markus Strobel as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors and Interim CEO, effective January 1, 2026.
Mr. Strobel will take over the roles previously held by Peter Harf, who will retire from the Coty Board of Directors after more than thirty years of service, and Sue Nabi, who will step down as CEO after a five-year term. He joins Coty after 33 years at Procter & Gamble, where he led the global Skin & Personal Care business, a multi-billion dollar portfolio of skin care, personal care and fragrance.
Markus Strobel takes the reins of Coty “at a pivotal moment for the company”, specifies the group, “while a strategic review of the consumer beauty business is underway”.
“Harf’s leadership helped shape Coty into a global beauty leader, while Nabi oversaw the launch of several major blockbuster fragrances, including Burberry Goddess, and significantly reduced Coty’s net financial leverage,” Coty said in a statement.
“Both leave Coty on a solid foundation for future profitable growth,” it added. The group announced last week the sale of the last shares it owned in the hair care brand Wella with the intention of using the proceeds from the sale to continue its debt reduction.
Coty announced in September its wish to refocus on perfumery with the merger of the “prestige” and “consumer” perfume divisions. But Coty is on the verge of losing the Gucci license while the luxury group Kering, owner of the Italian brand, has sold its beauty division to the world number one cosmetics company, French company L’Oréal.
The group went into the red during the 2024/2025 financial year (ended at the end of June) with a net loss of $381 million, compared to a net profit of $76 million a year earlier. Its sales fell 4% to $5.9 billion.
In the first quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year, its results were down with net profit falling 19% to $64.6 million and turnover down 6% to 1.58 billion.
Since the start of the year, the stock has fallen more than 50%.
