Susan Arnold is stepping down today as president of Procter & Gamble’s global business unit and will retire from the Cincinnati consumer products company on Sept. 1.
A 29-year veteran of P&G, Arnold has long planned to step down after her 55th birthday, the company said in a written statement. She turned 55 on Sunday.
Arnold will work for A.G. Lafley, the company’s chairman and chief executive, in a special assignment until her retirement, the company stated.
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Vice chairs of P&G’s global business unit who have reported to Arnold now will report to Lafley, reducing a layer of management amid their company’s ongoing simplification effort.
“Susan has been an integral part of P&G’s leadership team over the past decade, most recently as president of global business units responsible for more than $80 billion in sales and more than 300 brands worldwide,” Lafley stated in his company’s statement.
“She’s led the transformation of P&G into one of the world’s leading beauty companies — with vision, creativity, consumer understanding, and game-changing innovation,” Lafley stated. “Under Ms. Arnold’s leadership, P&G’s Beauty business has nearly tripled in size from about $7 billion in 1999 to $20 billion today.”
When Arnold took the helm at the company’s personal beauty care business a decade ago, it had only one billion-dollar brand: Pantene. Now, it has eight billion-dollar brands, including Olay, Gillette and Braun.
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Arnold was the first woman vice chair and president at P&G, as well as the first woman to lead its global beauty business, he said.
Under Arnold’s leadership, P&G adopted company-wide economic and environmental sustainability goals. She also championed social sustainability as a sponsor of the Children’s Safe Drinking Water program, which has delivered more than 1 billion liters of safe drinking water to people in need around the world, Lafley stated.
“In addition to her business leadership, Susan has also been instrumental in the development of top talent throughout P&G and she has served as a role model and coach for women inside and outside P&G,” Lafley stated.
Arnold is expected to continue to serve as a director for Walt Disney Co., McDonald’s, Catalyst and Save the Children.
Procter & Gamble’s health care brands include Pepto-Bismol, Prilosec OTC and Vicks. Last month, the Financial Times reported that the company hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to look for a buyer for its $2 billion-a-year prescription drug business. (Hat tip WSJ Health blog.)
