Brands
Swiggy cofounder Nandan Reddy quits
Reddy exits to launch new venture as Swiggy reshuffles board with internal promotions and investor nominee change
BENGALURU: One of Swiggy’s founding trio is heading for the exit. Nandan Reddy, cofounder and head of innovation at the food and grocery delivery giant, is stepping down from his executive role and vacating his board seat to launch his own venture.
Swiggy disclosed the departure in a stock exchange filing. Reddy cofounded the company alongside group chief executive Sriharsha Majety and has been one of its most senior figures since inception. His most recent charge was Crew, Swiggy’s concierge app, which will now pass to Rohit Kapoor, chief executive of Swiggy’s food marketplace.
Two colleagues will move up to fill the board vacancy. Phani Kishan, cofounder and chief growth officer, and Rahul Bothra, chief financial officer, will both join the board of directors. Separately, Renan De Castro Alves Pinto of Prosus Ventures will join as a nominee director, replacing Roger Rabalais, who is stepping down following his own departure from the Dutch technology investor.
Reddy, in an email to employees, kept it brief and bullish. There were areas he had been deeply curious and passionate about, he wrote, and he wanted to give them the time and energy they deserved. He signed off with a note of confidence in Kapoor: he believed Swiggy was laying the foundations of a massive new consumer category, and he could not wait to see how big the Crew service becomes under Kapoor’s watch.
For Swiggy, which listed on Indian stock exchanges in late 2024, the timing is notable. The company is still fighting hard for profitability in a brutally competitive market. Losing a founder is never just a footnote — but Swiggy will be hoping the reshuffle reads more like a refresh than a retreat.
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.
