MAM
Ravi Krishnan appointed managing director – IMG/TWI South Asia
Sports marketing major IMG today announced the appointment of Ravi Krishnan as the new managing director of IMG/TWI South Asia.
Krishnan, an Australian of Indian origin, will be in charge of the complete gamut of activities under the IMG/TWI banner in the region including organizing and implementing domestic and international sports, fashion and lifestyle events, client management and servicing, corporate representation, consultancy and the full range of television production, programming and distribution activities for TWI, IMG’s television arm.
“I am pleased that Ravi Krishnan has risen from within IMG to take over as the Managing Director,” said Mark H McCormack, who founded IMG in the early sixties. “Ravi has extensive first-hand experience in India and South Asia for several years now. I am confident that he will excel in his new role, and continue to forge new frontiers in India and South Asia,” he added.
“The South Asia region is poised for tremendous growth in the coming years as companies become aware of the benefits of sports and entertainment as a marketing tool. Over the last couple of years we have seen tremendous interest by large corporates in sports like golf, tennis, billiards and bowling, besides cricket,” said Krishnan, who gave up a career as a corporate and entertainment lawyer in Australia to join up with IMG India six years ago.
“Our focus over the next couple of years would be to strengthen our core businesses, ensuring that we always use our leadership position globally to enhance the industry as a whole. We are in the process of exploring new projects and identifying opportunities in South Asia that will enable us to leverage our global expertise to conceptualise and implement truly world-class events in India,” Krishnan said.
Last year, IMG concluded the largest-ever cricket team sponsorship deal when they acquired the rights to the Indian cricket team from the BCCI, and brought in Sahara India Parivar as the official team sponsor. IMG also brought in the Tata Group as the new title sponsor of the Tata Open Tennis Championship, ensuring that the largest and richest annual sporting event continues in India. The Indian Open Golf Championship, the jewel in the crown of IMG’s golf activities, now has Royal Challenge as the new title sponsor. IMG also successfully completed, for the FDCI, the second Lakme India Fashion Week, the biggest and most high profile event in Indian fashion history.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Krishnan was a solicitor for Clayton UTZ, Australia’s largest commercial law firm. He has also worked as an independent consultant to record companies and bands in Australia. Krishnan joined IMG in 1995 and was part of a four-member team that set-up IMG India.
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.
