Alan Jope

Jope joined Unilever in 1985 as a graduate marketing trainee.^[1] He was the president of Beauty & Personal Care, the largest division at Unilever.^[1] He has had stints running several operations including China.^[7]

From 2009, Jope led Unilever's business in China and North Asia, doubling its size and laying important foundations for future success.^[8] He was appointed to Unilever's leadership executive in 2011 in his role as president of Unilever's businesses across North Asia. Previous senior roles also included President Russia, Africa & Middle East; and President of Unilever's Beauty & Personal Care division. Earlier, Jope worked in a number of sales and marketing roles in the UK, Thailand and the US.^[6] He was appointed CEO in 2019 and worked until June 2023. Under his tenure shares gained just over 10%, recovering from a four year low.^[9]

Jope has been a trustee of the Leverhulme Trust - which gives grants and scholarships of over £120million a year across arts, sciences, social sciences and humanities - since 2021, and Chair since August 2024.^[10]

In 2023 Jope became a non-executive director at Accenture^[11] and a commissioner at the Global Commission on Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking.^[12]

He is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford Saïd Business School,^[13] a guest lecturer at the Royal Society of Arts,^[14] once appeared as a guest judge, with Donald Trump, in reality TV show The Apprentice,^[15] and is Chair of the British Business Awards.^[16]

Jope is married, with three children.^[6]