Rohit Jawa to take over as HUL CEO next month. His salary will be…

Rohit Jawa will take over as CEO of HUL on June 27, 2023

In less than a month, Rohit Jawa will take over as managing director and chief executive officer of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL). Jawa, a senior official of the UK-based parent entity Unilever, will succeed incumbent MD and CEO Sanjiv Mehta. His five-year tenure as MD and CEO of HUL will come into effect on June 27.

A Unilever veteran, 56-year-old Rohit Jawa has served in key managerial roles over his career of 35 years, which began as a management trainee in 1988. He has been credited for leading the transformation of Unilever businesses in China and in Philippines and currently serves as Unilever's chief of transformation in his London-based role.

Jawa will take home an annual remuneration of Rs 21.43 crore as MD and CEO of HUL, the consumer products giant said in its annual report. He will also receive another Rs 4.83 crore as mobility-linked allowances in FY24.

Jawa’s salary exceeds what Sanjiv Mehta received as CEO of HUL in FY2023. Mehta, who will retire on June 26, took home Rs 22.36 crore in annual remuneration in 2022-23.

The report added that Mehta’s salary was 164 times higher than that of the average HUL employee.

About Rohit Jawa

Rohit Jawa, 56, started his career with HUL as a management trainee in 1988

After graduating from Delhi’s St Stephen’s College in 1986, Jawa earned an MBA in marketing from Delhi University’s Faculty of Management Studies

As the chairman of Unilever Philippines, Jawa led the business to become one of the top 10 markets for Unilever globally, the company said.

As the EVP for North Asia and chairman for Unilever China, he transformed Unilever China into a competitive, profitable, and consistent business. It is now Unilever’s third biggest business worldwide.

An interesting anecdote from Jawa’s days as a management trainee is included in the book ‘The CEO Factory: Management Lessons from Hindustan Unilever’ by Sudhir Sitapati. The book details how Jawa once rode a motorcycle through dacoit-infested areas of Uttar Pradesh after receiving information that a distributor’s cheque had bounced.