Yesterday, Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL) has appointed Niranjan Gupta, former chief executive of Hero MotoCorp, as its new chief financial officer, effective November 1. Gupta succeeds Ritesh Tiwari, who will relocate to London to take on the role of Global Head of M&A and Treasury at HUL’s parent company, Unilever.
The appointment marks a homecoming for Gupta, who began his career at Hindustan Unilever in 1994 and spent nearly two decades across HUL and Unilever before moving to Hero MotoCorp, where he most recently served as CEO from May 2023 to April 2025. His return comes during a period of significant leadership transition at the Indian consumer goods giant, following the July appointment of Priya Nair as chief executive after the early exit of former CEO Rohit Jawa.
It is reported that the CFO change as part of a broader leadership reshuffle aimed at reinvigorating HUL’s performance. “The CFO change aligns with the broader leadership reshuffle underway, especially with a new CEO coming in. HUL has underperformed on growth over the past couple of years, which has made a leadership overhaul necessary,” said Akshay D’Souza, an independent consumer goods consultant.
