- Fortune 500 consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble is betting an operations veteran can shepherd the industry stalwart behind name brands such as Pampers, Old Spice, Pantene, and Dawn. Shailesh Jejurikar will take over for Jon Moeller next year, P&G announced on Monday.
Procter & Gamble is elevating an operations veteran with global experience to lead the consumer goods behemoth as it navigates an ambitious workforce restructuring, tariffs, and geopolitical headwinds. The leadership shuffle comes a month after P&G announced it would cut 7,000 jobs, equivalent to about 15% of its non-manufacturing workforce.
Chief operating officer Shailesh Jejurikar, 58, will officially take the reins on Jan. 1, 2026, the company announced on Monday. Current CEO Jon Moeller will transition to an executive chairman role, where he’ll lead the board and advise Jejurikar, the company said. There’s no timeline for Moeller in the executive chair seat; the P&G board will determine how long he’ll stick around.
P&G chief communications officer Damon Jones told Fortune Moeller leaves behind a strong track record and legacy at P&G. The company ranks 149 on the Fortune 500 and is 19th on the World’s Most Admired Companies list.
“We thank Jon for his strategic leadership and guidance as he has played a pivotal role in designing and implementing P&G’s integrated portfolio, superiority, productivity and organization strategy, as part of one of the most significant transformations in the company’s history,” said Joe Jimenez, lead independent director on P&G’s board. “The company has continued to consistently deliver strong growth and value creation through Jon’s steady leadership as CEO. A strong plan is in place for sustained success and now is the time to transition to Shailesh as CEO. We are fortunate and grateful to have Jon continue as Executive Chairman.”
Jejurikar has served as COO since 2021 and previously held the role of chief executive of global fabric and home care. From 2016 to 2021, Jejurikar was the executive sponsor of global sustainability at P&G, where he led the integration of the company’s sustainability goals into business operations with a focus on positive impact on environment and society while creating value for shareholders, his LinkedIn states.
P&G will pay Jejurikar $1.6 million in salary with a potential bonus valued at $3.2 million. The board awarded him long-term equity valued at $14 million, evenly split between performance shares and long-term incentive awards. Last year, Jejurikar made $10 million as COO, while Moller’s total compensation was valued at $23 million.
From Head Boy to CEO
P&G was founded in 1837 by English-born candlemaker William Procter and Irish-born soap maker James Gamble. Other than a brief stint between 1999 and 2000 when P&G was led by Netherlands-born Durk Jager, Jejurikar—a naturalized citizen—will be the second CEO born outside the U.S. to lead the company.
His rise to the top at P&G came after a childhood spent in India. Jejurikar told the P&G Alumni podcast in 2023 he started his schooling in an area outside Mumbai, which he described as being “pretty much in the middle of nowhere.” The nearest school was a 45-minute drive away, he said.
He moved to Hyderabad in eighth grade and started boarding school as a junior. Jejurikar said his high school years in Hyderabad helped him really find himself. He discovered cricket, a sport he excelled at and played competitively every Sunday. In 12th grade, he was named head boy of the school, which offered him a real chance at leadership.
Jejurikar said one of his main life lessons came during his time as head boy. Students usually woke up in the morning, went to PE, came back to their dorms and showered before going to a study hour. As head boy, it was Jejurkar’s job to make sure everyone’s rooms were in order and beds were made. He typically made his bed every morning before he left for PE, but he was rushing one day and forgot. As he was checking other students’ rooms to make sure they had tidied up, he realized he had forgotten to make his own bed.
Jejurikar said he eventually realized his chemistry teacher had discovered the mistake, made the bed, and never mentioned a word about it to Jejurikar—no comment, no lecture, nothing.
“It left me with the biggest lesson, Jejurikar said. “What I took away from that was never to ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t do myself.”
Jejurikar went to college in Bombay and then got his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow. P&G hired him as an assistant brand manager in 1989, and he has worked for the company in various cities all over the world in the decades since.
Grow Your Own CEO
P&G famously employs a “build from within” culture and in its more than 180-year history has never hired a CEO from outside its own ranks. Executives with a 30-year track record at the company are more the rule rather than the exception, P&G has said.
Former superstar CEO A.G. Lafley, who took over after Jager stepped aside less than two years into the role, served from 2000 to 2009 before Bob McDonald succeeded him. McDonald navigated the business through the global financial crisis and in 2013, the P&G board brought back Lafley for a second act as a boomerang CEO, rather than look outside.
One of Lafley’s main priorities after he came back for a second stint was to focus the board on succession planning for his replacement. He passed the baton in 2015 to David Taylor, who served as CEO from 2015 to 2021, and as executive chairman from 2021 to 2022.
The restructuring plan Jejurikar is inheriting involves exiting certain brands, divestitures, and market exits, the company explained in a series of slides presented at the Deutsche Bank Consumer Conference in Paris last month.
“I am honored to serve as P&G’s CEO,” said Jejurikar in a company statement. “P&G people, our brands, and our capabilities in innovation and operational excellence fuel my confidence for a future of sustained growth and value creation.”
“It has been an honor to serve as CEO of P&G, and I am incredibly proud of the value created by the people of P&G through an integrated strategy that is being executed with excellence,” said Moeller. “I look forward to supporting Shailesh and the entire team as they continue to improve the performance and value of P&G brands and categories to win with consumers and customers around the world.”
