MAM
Special Olympics Bharat appoints V.K. Mahendru as executive director
Mumbai: Special Olympics Bharat, is honoured to announce the appointment of V.K. Mahendru as executive director.
In his new role, Mahendru will oversee all aspects of the organisation and management, while also serving as a mentor. With a B. Tech in Civil Engineering from PEC Chandigarh & subsequently acquiring a Diploma in Management, Mr. Mahendru began his career in ONGC as a civil engineer & held key positions such as head, corporate sports, head of vigilance department, chief corporate and parliamentary affairs & finally as executive director, headed the regional office of Mumbai which is most prominent & profitable work centre of ONGC. His strong administrative capabilities, communication skills, team building, and strict adherence to ethics and honesty, positions him considerably well in taking Special Olympics Bharat on the path of sustained quality growth
Reflecting on his recent appointment, V.K. Mahendru expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “I am delighted to be appointed as the Executive Director of Special Olympics Bharat, an organisation extremely close to my heart. I am closely attached to sports and also to our Special Olympics athletes. I look forward to putting in my efforts, work, and efficiency that would lead towards the betterment and development of our organisation and our precious athletes.”
Mahendru comes with a background of considerable prowess in Table Tennis and Badminton during college education, carrying a strong passion for the development of sports. In his capacity as head, corporate sports division at ONGC between 2009 and 2014, he managed 22 disciplines, recruiting and grooming sportspersons to achieve world-level accolades. He has managed 400 National and international sportspersons including some prominent names such as Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Pankaj Advani (Billiards & Snooker) and Ashwini Ponnappa (Badminton) to name a few, with 30 sportspersons having won national awards. He has many awards and recognition to his name.
Commenting on this significant appointment, Special Olympics Bharat president Dr Mallika Nadda said, “V.K. Mahendru brings a great deal of experience and knowledge to our team. I am fully confident that his expertise, along with his capabilities and skills will further elevate the working of our organisation and the well-being of our athletes. We extend a warm welcome to him and greatly look forward to his upcoming contributions to Special Olympics Bharat.”
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.
