Sue Nabi, the CEO of Coty, is out after five years, the company announced today.
Nabi joined the beauty giant in July 2020, succeeding then-CEO Peter Harf, who was in the role for a month before being made executive chair. Harf will also be stepping down from his role that he spent more than three decades in.
Coty announced that Markus Strobel will take on the role of executive chairman of the board and interim chief executive officer from January 2026.
Strobel joins the company from Procter & Gamble, where he was president of the company’s global skin and personal care business. He has worked on spearheading brands such as Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Hugo Boss as part of his fragrance assignment.
Strobel’s résumé has seen him work internationally, from North America, Greater China, Japan to Korea and Europe.
“I am delighted to join Coty at this important juncture. Building on Coty’s strong foundations, I see tremendous potential to accelerate growth, strengthen our position in prestige and mass beauty, and deliver sustainable value for shareholders, partners, and consumers worldwide,” he said in a statement.
Nabi’s exit comes at a crucial point for Coty, which houses Etro, Calvin Klein and Marc Jacobs, among other brands. She oversaw the launch of Burberry’s Goddess fragrance and helped reduce Coty’s financial net leverage.
In October, Kering announced its plans to sell its beauty division to L’Oréal Group, which includes a transfer of the Gucci Beauty license from Coty to L’Oréal when it ends in 2028. Since relaunching under Coty in 2019, Gucci Beauty has grown almost 60%, Nabi said in November.
In its most recent earnings call, however, the company said sales declined 6% to $1.58 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, in line with analyst expectations. Adjusted EBITDA fell 18% year-on-year, with gross margin decreasing from 65.5% to 64.5% in response to lower sales and tariff headwinds. At the time, Nabi told Vogue Business that Coty’s US-based factories and price increases across the prestige fragrance category allowed it to mitigate some of the impacts.
Nabi believes the durability of the Coty portfolio will help return the business to growth. “With the confirmation that the Gucci license will no longer be part of our portfolio after its expiry, our focus for the next several years will be on the brands with the biggest long-term growth potential — this is the majority of our portfolio,” Nabi said, highlighting new additions such as Marc Jacobs Beauty, which is expected to debut in the 2026 calendar year, as well as Swarovski’s fragrance launch, penned for 2027.
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