Patrick Cescau
March 26th, 2009Patrick Cescau has been with Unilever since 1973 when he joined its France office as Organization Officer. Born in Paris in 1948, Cescau’s career in Unilever included key senior positions in Unilever’s offices in Germany, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Portugal, and the United States.
An ESSEC (International Business School in Europe) business graduate, Cescau worked as Unilever’s Controller and Deputy Financial Director in 1998. Then in 1999, he rose to the position of Company Financial Director, a position which he held for only one year because he had to concentrate on the integration of BestFoods. A year later, Cescau became Unilever’s Global Foods Division Director.
Cescau’s career continued to move at a more than average pace. In 2005, he became the company’s first Group Chief Executive, a fact that he takes great pride in and drove him to focus on bringing back the company into the spotlight.
Cescau is also connected with Pearson PLC as non-executive Director. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and is a 2005 Legion d’Honneur awardee.
Patrick Cescau lives with his wife, Ursula, and two children in London. Cescau will turn 60 this year and will retire during Unilever’s annual meeting in May 2009.
Apart from Unilever, Cescau’s other interests include photography, golf, and reading.
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