Brands
Niyo reinstates Sai Sankar as CBO; forex business to add 100 plus roles in FY27
Appointment comes as travel fintech plans 100 plus hires and wider distribution
BENGALURU: Niyo has reappointed Sai Sankar as chief business officer for its forex business, signalling a sharper push into distribution-led growth as the travel fintech scales its cross-border operations.
A founding team member, Sankar returns after a two-year entrepreneurial break, having earlier spent nearly eight years helping build Niyo’s zero-forex-markup travel card and leading its travel card business as chief business officer in 2023.
The move comes as Niyo steps up ambitions in forex and outbound travel, targeting 10–15 per cent of India’s cross-border market. The company has outlined a 50-branch phygital expansion across high-traffic travel and forex corridors, deepening its physical footprint in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Gurugram.
As part of the next phase, Niyo’s forex unit plans to add more than 100 roles in FY27, strengthening partner-facing teams and on-ground execution as outbound travel demand accelerates.
“Sai has played a defining role in shaping Niyo’s forex journey from the early days,” said Niyo founder and CEO Vinay Bagri. “As we scale distribution and partnerships, his execution focus will be critical to the next phase of growth.”
In his role, Sankar will drive distribution strategy, expand partner-led channels and build presence across key travel corridors, working closely with product and operations teams. The forex division is led by Niyo Forex CEO Amit Talwar.
“Niyo’s forex business is at an inflection point,” Sankar said. “With strong product-market fit and a clear roadmap, the focus now is scale, partnerships and accessibility for Indian travellers.”
Founded in 2015, Niyo has emerged as a leading travel fintech serving leisure travellers, students and professionals, blending digital-first forex products with a growing physical and partner-led network.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
