Following Ron Gee’s exit earlier this year, Shiseido Americas has a permanent leader once again.
Alberto Noe, who was appointed interim chief executive officer, Americas in addition to his current responsibilities as CEO, EMEA in April, has had his position made permanent and will continue to run the two regions.
Noe has worked at Shiseido EMEA for more than a decade, beginning as CEO and president, Italy. Prior to that he was general manager, Lancôme Italy, and also had stints at Chanel and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Shiseido also revealed wider changes to the company, with Angelica Munson, chief digital officer; Tomoko Ikeda, chief brand and product innovation officer, and So George Sugitomo, chief creative officer among the handful of executives stepping down, effective Jan. 1.
In reverse, Makoto Toyoda has been promoted to chief information technology officer, Hidefumi Araki is now global brand and product innovation officer and Naomi Kawanishi was named global brand president, Clé de Peau.
At the same time, Shiseido revealed plans to cut around 200 jobs in its home market of Japan as part of its early retirement program “Next Career Support Plan.”
The changes come as Shiseido’s net sales came in at 693.8 billion yen in its third quarter, 4 percent lower than a year earlier, primarily due to sales declines in China, travel retail and Drunk Elephant.
Drunk Elephant, which sits within the Americas portfolio, saw net sales tumble 25 percent in 2024.
Shiseido acquired the skin care brand in 2019 for $845 million in a move to become a bigger player with a more global footprint. At the time, Drunk Elephant’s sales were reported to be close to $100 million, but more recently it has seen a significant slowdown in demand and has been marred by consumer criticism online.
Last November, Drunk Elephant issued a voluntary recall in the U.S. for a small number of its Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser, Protini Polypeptide Cream and Lala Retro Whipped Cream “due to an isolated ingredient mix-up between preservatives and surfactants during production.”
As part of its plan to claw back profitability for Drunk Elephant, it said it plans to launch disruptive and irreverent campaigns balanced with clinical results in January, as well as tap new ambassadors to drive engagement.
On a like-for-like basis, Shiseido’s sales were flat in Japan, fell 6 percent in China and travel retail and were down 1 percent lower in Asia-Pacific. For the regions Noe oversees, the America’s slid 9 percent, while EMEA was up 4 percent.
For 2025 as a whole, Shiseido now expects net losses of 52 billion yen.
