Robert Polet was born on July 25,1955 and is the former CEO of Gucci Group and prior to that worked as the president of the ice cream and frozen foods division of Unilever.
15 Facts About Robert Polet
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Robert Polet won the 2007 Fortune European Businessman of the Year award by Fortune Magazine.
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Robert Polet studied business at Nyenrode Business Universiteit in Breukelen and later earned his MBA at the University of Oregon in 1976.
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Robert Polet worked in global management, marketing, and was the president of the Malaysia division and later the president of the ice cream and frozen foods division.
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Robert Polet is married and has two daughters, Anne-Christine and Francine.
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Robert Polet spent most of his career at Unilever as the president of the ice cream and frozen foods division of the company prior to accepting the CEO position at Gucci.
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Many executives in retail in New York City were confused with the choice and have stated that success in the fashion industry is forged by relationships, something that Robert Polet was severely lacking, being an unknown in the industry.
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Robert Polet was selected by a team at PPR led by its CEO Serge Weinberg to succeed Gucci's former CEO Domenico De Sole after PPR decided not to renew his contract.
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Gucci's net income in the fourth quarter of 2003, half a year prior to Robert Polet's hiring, has been solely from its primary line and its growth was less than predicted.
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Robert Polet talked about reorganizing the structure of the company, doubling its size, and increasing profit margins.
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Per his family-oriented character, when the floor was opened to questions, Robert Polet apologized and left for the airport to catch his daughter's birthday.
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Robert Polet employed his hands-off management philosophies at Gucci and let the designers do their job without executive interference.
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Robert Polet employed some strategies more specific to the situation.
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However, Robert Polet stressed that the Gucci brands should be the primary focus instead of the designer since the brand can far outlive the designer.
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Robert Polet moved to assign a business manager and creative manager to each line under Gucci, which allowed more freedom per product line.