(Bloomberg) -- Mark Clouse, the chief executive officer of Campbell’s Company, is leaving the soup and snack maker to become president of the NFL’s Washington Commanders.
Clouse will stay in his position until Jan. 31, the company said on Tuesday. Mick Beekhuizen, president of meals and beverages, will succeed Clouse on Feb. 1 and also join the company’s board.
Beekhuizen joined Campbell’s in 2019 as chief financial officer, and has overseen the meals and beverage business, which the company said is a $5.3 billion business, since 2022. He previously served as CFO of Chobani Inc.
Campbell shares declined 4.2% at 4:58 p.m. in extended New York trading. The stock has gained 5.3% this year through Tuesday’s close.
Clouse became CEO in early 2019. A veteran of the packaged-food industry, he helped to stabilize the company, which at the time was suffering from canned soup’s steady decline. Since then, he has helped to diversify Campbell’s by adding Sovos Brands, which makes Rao’s tomato sauce, and selling more broths under its Swanson brand. He also sharpened focus on snacks, such as Cape Cod potato chips, while trimming costs.
Earlier this year, the company changed its name to the Campbell’s Company, dropping the reference to soup. It was a symbolic move to show that the iconic but declining canned-soup business no longer anchors the company’s plans for growth.
Investor returns under Clouse have trailed the market, however. Campbell stock has risen 29% since he took over, compared with a 130% gain for the S&P 500 Index.
Josh Harris, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management Inc., bought the Commanders last year for $6.05 billion and had been searching for a team president since the departure of its former leader, Jason Wright. The new president will be tasked with finding a location to build a new stadium and potentially cutting a deal with Washington DC, Maryland or Virginia.
“The Washington Commanders role is a once-in-a-lifetime position that blends my passion for business and love of sports,” Clouse said in a statement. “A leadership role in professional sports is the only thing that would’ve pulled me away from Campbell’s.”
The Commanders, which are rebounding after years of trouble under the team’s former owner, said that Clouse is a “dynamic leader with a stellar track record of guiding organizations to excellence.”
Wright, the first Black president of an NFL team, said in July that he would leave the team by the end of the 2024 season.
Also on Tuesday, Campbell’s reported on Tuesday net sales of $2.77 billion for the company’s fiscal first quarter, just short of the average analyst estimate. Sales of US soups declined compared to last year because of the timing of Thanksgiving, the company said. Snack sales also declined, including for Pepperidge Farm cookies and Goldfish crackers.
--With assistance from Randall Williams.
(Updates share trading, adds details in third paragraph and adds statement from Commanders)
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