Washington, D.C., USA: Global consumer goods leader Unilever has officially named India-born Srinivas Phatak as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective immediately. The appointment comes just over six months after he was entrusted with the role in an acting capacity, the London-headquartered company confirmed on Tuesday.
Phatak, 53, now joins the ranks of prominent Indian-origin CFOs at international giants such as Apple and Tesla. He was born in Hyderabad, with roots in Maharashtra through his father and Andhra Pradesh through his mother. Both parents were employees at the then Syndicate Bank (now Canara Bank). Phatak’s association with Unilever spans more than 20 years, beginning as a finance manager at Hindustan Unilever (HUL) in 1999. On September 15 of that year, he entered HUL’s Mumbai office, and exactly 26 years later, on September 15, 2026, he stepped into Unilever’s CFO office in London. Reflecting on the milestone, he shared on LinkedIn:
“Sept 15, 1999 – I walked into HUL as a direct recruit. Sept 15, 2026 – I have been entrusted by Unilever’s Board with the honour of becoming CFO of this great company.”
Unilever has been actively restructuring its leadership team amid rising competition from digital-first challengers reshaping consumer choices. With London as its global base and India as its second-largest market, the company has committed to investing “disproportionately” in India to deliver stronger growth, it said in its latest earnings report. Over the past year, Unilever’s market value has dipped by more than 6% to around $152.4 billion. Earlier in 2025, the group replaced CEO Hein Schumacher with its former finance chief, Fernando Fernandez. At that time, Phatak—then deputy CFO and group controller—was named acting CFO.
In India, Priya Nair was recently elevated as HUL’s first woman CEO, succeeding Rohit Jawa, while Niranjan Gupta is set to take over as CFO in November. Unilever’s renewed focus on India makes Phatak’s appointment even more significant, given his extensive experience across both local and global markets. Between 2017 and mid-2021, he served as CFO of HUL and Vice President for Finance in South Asia, spearheading growth strategies and strengthening margins. Under his leadership, HUL doubled its market capitalization, gained corporate market share, and achieved margin expansion of over 300 basis points.
Throughout his career, Phatak has worked across multiple finance domains and led several large-scale transformation programs. His personal life also reflects his global journey—his wife is an ophthalmic surgeon at London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital.
