Shiseido has promoted Kentaro Fujiwara (pictured) to CEO from President and COO, effective 1 January 2025.
He succeeds Masahiko Uotani, who is retiring in December after nine years at the Japanese beauty group.
Fujiwara’s appointment has been orchestrated as part of Shiseido’s five-year CEO succession plan, where he was named as a CEO candidate in 2022.
At the time, Uotani had outlined his intention to retire in 2024.
“They [Fujiwara and Uotani] have been working together to complete a successful leadership transition,” read a statement from Shiseido.
“As we have confirmed that steady progress has been made on our succession plan, the board has adopted a resolution to make [this] change in leadership.”
Fujiwara joined Shiseido in 1991 and has held several leadership positions during his tenure.
These include Head of Commercial Operations, Head of Shiseido in South Korea and CEO of Shiseido China.
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Fujiwara succeeds Masahiko Uotani who is retiring
Uotani will continue to work as a Senior Advisor to Shiseido’s board.
Shiseido owns beauty brands Drunk Elephant, Nars and Dr. Dennis Gross, as well as its namesake line.
It also holds fragrances licences for the likes of Narciso Rodriguez and Max Mara.
The group has been hit hard by China’s sluggish recovery post-pandemic, reporting a nearly 40% slump in 2023 earnings.
However, sales in the first quarter of 2024 gained 3.9% to ¥249.5bn.
Shiseido also offered 1,500 employees early retirement this year as part of its new business transformation plan ‘Mirai Shift Nippon 2025’.
The measure is part of the group’s mission to “achieve sustainable growth and improved profitability”.