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In the late 1800s and early 1900s, William Hesketh Lever and Samuel van den Bergh transformed the soap and margarine industries.
Lever built Lever Brothers on worker-focused reforms, introducing profit-sharing, shorter workdays, and creating Port Sunlight (a purpose-built village for his workers).
Van den Bergh, leading his family's margarine and soap business, engineered a crucial merger with competitor Antonius Jurgens in 1927 to form Margarine Unie.
At a 1928 family meeting, van den Bergh predicted Margarine Unie would join with Lever Brothers.
This prediction materialized in 1930 when the companies merged to create Unilever.
Though Lever died in 1925, the business principles he and van den Bergh established shaped Unilever's development into a global consumer goods leader.
Francis D'Arcy Cooper became Unilever's chairman of Lever Brothers from 1925 to 1937.
Working with Georg Schicht and Paul Rijkens, he united previously separate British and Dutch operations into an integrated management team.
In 1937, European trade conflicts shifted profit generation from British to Dutch divisions.
Cooper transferred Lever Brothers' non-British assets to Unilever's Dutch arm, achieving the company's founding goal of equal profit distribution between both parent companies.
This reorganization preserved Unilever's Anglo-Dutch partnership during a critical period of market upheaval.
Harish Manwani was the Chairman of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) from 2005 to 2014.
In 2007, he executed the company's name change from Hindustan Lever to Hindustan Unilever Limited, strengthening its global brand alignment.
During the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Manwani, who survived the Taj Mahal Palace hotel siege, reinforced HUL's commitment to corporate values by maintaining the company's partnership with the Taj Group.
His most significant policy initiative, the 2010 Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, established concrete environmental targets while expanding HUL's social impact programs in India.
Under Manwani's leadership, multiple HUL brands—Brooke Bond, Surf Excel, and Fair & Lovely—achieved annual sales exceeding Rs 1,000 crore.
During his tenure as Unilever CEO (2009-2019), Paul Polman transformed the company through sustainable business practices.
He introduced the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan in 2012, which set measurable targets to reduce environmental impact while driving growth.
Unilever's shareholder returns grew 290% as the company consistently ranked first in corporate sustainability indexes.
Alan Jope rose from marketing trainee to CEO during his 38-year tenure at Unilever (1985-2023).
As CEO, he implemented the Compass strategy, which set specific targets for climate action, plastic reduction, and sustainable agriculture.
The company achieved revenue growth in 2022 despite inflation and supply chain disruptions.
Hein Schumacher's Unilever tenure centered on operational discipline and efficiency improvements, including selling Dollar Shave Club while avoiding food division spinoffs or major acquisitions.
The board recently removed him within two years.
Fernando Fernandez, Unilever's new CEO, brings 37 years of company experience across global markets.
His career progressed from analyst in Argentina to executive leadership roles in Latin America, the Philippines, and as President of Beauty and Wellbeing before becoming CFO.
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