Food Industry Career

Former Chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods and Mondelez International, Irene Rosenfeld discusses her 30 years in the food industry, the choices that defined her career and how her time at Cornell shaped her career. Rosenfeld’s career as a CEO at Kraft and Mondelez can be defined by a few strategic decisions. She discusses in detail her decision to continue pursuing a complicated acquisition of Cadbury despite tremendous opposition from the British public, press, and politicians. Rosenfeld also discusses why CEOs today should engage with activist investors, why she decided to split Kraft into two companies, and the fun story of how the name Mondelez was born. Rosenfeld holds a bachelor’s degree (‘75), master’s of science (‘77) and a PhD (‘80) all from Cornell University.Episode Article: Johnson Business FeedBloomberg Profile: Irene Rosenfeld Executive ProfileNYT Profile: New York Times Retirement Article