New CEOs take up positions in publicly traded companies in January

The year 2023 was marked by the announcement of changes in chairs in many publicly traded companies. Part of the new management now begins in January 2024. Among them are the new CEOs of Cosan, Petro Recôncavo, Avon, a subsidiary of Natura, Avianca and Grupo Abra.

At Cosan, Nelson Gomes takes on the role of CEO starting this Monday, the 1st. Gomes was CEO of Compass, a subsidiary of Cosan. The group will also have a new CFO, Rodrigo Araújo, current director of Strategy at the company and former CFO of Petrobras. In November 2023, changes in the command of Compass and Comgás were also announced.

Grupo Abra, controller of Gol and Avianca, will have a new CEO starting this month. The then CEO of Avianca, Adrian Neuhauser, will take command of the Abra Group in January. Frederico Pedreira, who is currently Avianca's CFO, will be the airline's new CEO. The change in leadership comes amid Gol's negotiations to restructure debts with aircraft lessors and creditors.

At Porto, Paulo Kakinoff, former CEO of Gol, takes over as CEO starting this Tuesday (2). The executive has been on the insurance company's board of directors since 2020. He replaces Roberto Santos, who has held the position since 2018 and now joins the board of directors. The succession announced in May 2023 was planned, as the company's statute limits the age of CEOs to 65 years old.

PetroReconcavo will have a new CEO starting this Monday. José Firmo leaves his position as CEO of Porto do Açu, a subsidiary of Prumo, and takes over as head of the oil company. He will replace Marcelo Magalhães. The change was announced in November 2023.

Kristof Neirynck takes over this Monday as the new CEO of Avon, a subsidiary of Natura. Avon's then Marketing Director replaces Angela Cretu, who leaves the position after 25 years at the company. The exchange was announced in November last year.

At Hapvida, the then Capital Markets director Luccas Adib took over this Monday as interim CFO. He will succeed Mauricio Teixeira, who stepped down to take a seat on the board of directors and the financial committee. The change announced last month led to the share falling because Teixeira, who was also CFO of Localiza, was well regarded by investors.

Light, in judicial recovery, changed CEO on the last day of 2023. Carlos Vinicius de Sá Roriz took over as CEO after the end of the company's leadership transition period. He replaces Alexandre Ferreira Nogueira, who became president of Light's board of directors. Ferreira was appointed as CEO on December 18, 2023 as a replacement for Octavio Cortes Pereira Lopes. It was during Lopes' management that Light filed for judicial recovery through the holding company.

Future changes

In February, changes are planned in the command of Dasa, JHSF and Alpargatas. Lício Cintra, former Hapvida executive, will take on the role of CEO of Dasa from February 1, 2024. Augusto Martins, current CEO of JHSF Capital, the group's manager, will also take over as CEO of JHSF in February. Liel Miranda, former CEO of Mondelez Brasil, will be the new CEO of Alpargatas next month.

In March, Deshnee Naidoo will step down as CEO of Vale Base Metals, Vale's base metals subsidiary. The company has not yet announced the replacement. In April, Alberto Kuba takes over as CEO of Weg, replacing Harry Schmelzer Júnior, who will leave the position after 16 years. Kuba is the current managing director of the Industrial Electric Motors division.