Nestlé to Coldplay | Why so many CEO scandals? And what can HR do?

Where have all the good CEOs gone, and where are all the gods?

If, like Bonnie Tyler and me, you’re holding out for a hero in these troubling times, I probably wouldn’t bother looking up heartwarming stories of chief execs.

Yesterday’s news that Nestlé dismissed CEO Laurent Freixe with immediate effect - after finding he had an “undisclosed romantic relationship” with a direct subordinate - was a fitting way to end a summer of C-suite scandals.

Over the weekend, we also had CEO Piotr Szczerek go viral after snatching a tennis star’s hat from the desperate grip of a young boy at the US Open. Who could forget that Coldplay embrace between Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his HR chief, Kristin Cabot?