Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe Was Likely Married Before Being Fired for an Alleged Romantic Relationship With an Employee

Before former Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe was fired from his position, he was known for keeping his private life, well, private, per International Business Times. The outlet reported that the executive was terminated after an alleged romantic relationship with a direct subordinate was discovered, and he failed to report the relationship.

But what many want to know, despite his personal life being so private, is whether Laurent Freixe was married at the time of the alleged relationship. It sounds like the company let him go because he did not disclose the nature of the relationship in an official capacity. However, if Laurent were married, it would make sense that he wanted to keep it quiet, and it would add to the scandal all that much more.

Laurent does not have any public social media accounts, and he appears to prefer to keep his work life separate from his personal one. That being said, according to Daily Mail, the disgraced Nestlé CEO might have married someone he had a similar relationship with years before his scandal happened at Nestlé.

Per the outlet, Laurent allegedly had a similar relationship with a younger employee when he worked at Nestlé in Hungary. At that time, Laurent reportedly went public with the relationship and married the unnamed employee. She later quit her job with the company. However, if that's accurate, it's unclear if Laurent is still married to her today or if he was married to her at the time of his alleged 2025 relationship with a Nestlé employee.

Although Laurent's private life remains out of the public eye for the most part, he has shared professional updates on LinkedIn from time to time. According to his profile, Laurent was named CEO of the Iberian Region in Europe for Nestlé in 2007, the first of many similar roles with the company. In 2024, Laurent became the CEO of Nestlé as a whole, but that position lasted only a year due to the scandal.

On Sept. 1, 2025, Reuters reported that an investigation into Laurent's suspected relationship with an employee who was directly under him resulted in the decision to fire Laurent. Nestlé Chairman Paul Bulcke and Lead Independent Director Pablo Isla looked into the relationship and made the call to immediately fire Laurent with no severance package.

"This was a necessary decision," Bulcke said in a statement, according to Reuters. "Nestlé's values and governance are strong foundations of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service."

Per Reuters, suspicions came about in the spring of 2025, though there was no proof at that time that Laurent and the unnamed employee were having a romantic relationship. Another investigation into the nature of the relationship proved otherwise. It's not clear how serious the relationship might have been, and Laurent has not released a statement about the investigation or his subsequent termination.