Michele Buck, CEO of Hershey confirms retirement in 2026
Michele Buck
The Hershey Company has confirmed Michele Buck, its president and CEO has signalled she intends to retire at the end of June next year, writes Neill Barston.
It comes just a month after plans emerged in which the business had been the subject of a takeover move by Mondelez International, which the trust behind the business is understood to have rejected.
As the company announced in December, Michele Buck, who also serves as the chairman of the board, had taken on the additional responsibilities of president, after the departure of Michael Del Pozzo from the post, who returned to a role at Pepsi.
According to Hershey, which has continued to thrive under its flagship Reese’s brand, its CEO is set to resign from the company’s board shortly, before transitioning to a senior advisor role before her retirement next year. Consequently, the business has appointed a special committee to find her successor, which will include examining external candidates.
Commenting on her time with the business, Ms Buck said: “It has been the pinnacle of my career to lead Hershey, a truly one-of-a-kind company. Our team has created one of the strongest and most recognizable snacking portfolios in the industry and I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished.
“I am a firm believer that our long-term success is rooted in Hershey culture – the spirit of innovation has kept us at the forefront of new and changing trends to best serve our customers and consumers, made us a stronger partner for our communities and contributed to significant value creation for our shareholders. This year will be my 20th at Hershey and as we embark on a new year, I believe now is the right time to formally activate our succession planning and begin the transition to Hershey’s next leader.”
Victor Crawford, Lead Independent Director of the Board, expressed the board’s gratitude for her work, in what she described as having provided ‘vision and transformational leadership’ as CEO for eight years, and across two decades with the business.
She added: “Michele has made innumerable marks on Hershey, including serving as the key architect of the Company’s expansion into broader snacking categories, driving sustainable international growth and building advanced capabilities and growth platforms to evolve Hershey into a stronger and more diversified business. Succession planning is a matter the Board and Michele have been discussing and with Michele’s continued guidance and leadership, we are confident we will execute a seamless transition.”
