When former Unilever Chief Executive Officer Paul Polman was approached by Kraft Heinz with an offer many would find too good to refuse—a $143 billion takeover bid with a personal payout of $110 million—he says he turned it down. “They think everything is for sale,” he says. “Morals are not for sale.”

Polman, 67, who worked for Procter Gamble and Nestle before Unilever, joins David Merritt and Francine Lacqua on this week’s In the City  to share lessons he learned while CEO, and why he says running a company is more than maximizing shareholder returns. “If you would listen to all the shareholders and do what they were asking you to do, your company would be bankrupt before you knew it.”

When former Unilever Chief Executive Officer Paul Polman was approached by Kraft Heinz with an offer many would find too good to refuse—a $143 billion takeover bid with a personal payout of $110 million—he says he turned it down. “They think everything is for sale,” he says. “Morals are not for sale.” Polman, 67, who worked for Procter Gamble and Nestle before Unilever, joins David Merritt and Francine Lacqua on this week’s In the City  to share lessons he learned while CEO, and why he says running a company is more than maximizing shareholder returns. “If you would listen to all the shareholders and do what they were asking you to do, your company would be bankrupt before you knew it.”

Get ahead of the trends and conversations that are shaping the City of London. Join Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua, Allegra Stratton and Dave Merritt every Thursday as they uncover the best stories and speak to the people in the know. 

Get ahead of the trends and conversations that are shaping the City of London. Join Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua, Allegra Stratton and Dave Merritt every Thursday as they uncover the best stories and speak to the people in the know.

Every week, Francine Lacqua and David Merritt go behind the scenes in the City of London, uncovering stories and speaking to the people that matter.

In the City

Get ahead of the trends and conversations that are shaping the City of London. Join Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua, Allegra Stratton and David Merritt every Thursday as they uncover the best stories and speak to the people in the know. 

Get ahead of the trends and conversations that are shaping the City of London. Join Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua, Allegra Stratton and David Merritt every Thursday as they uncover the best stories and speak to the people in the know.

In The City

Why Maximizing Revenue Isn’t a CEO’s Only Job

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/8e1010ad-75fb-4c24-bd1b-b0d000faa9d3/transcript

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