Emmanuel Faber

Faber made Danone the first listed French company to become an entreprise à mission in 2020, writing social and environmental goals into its articles with shareholder approval. Months later, with the share price lagging rivals, activist investors including Bluebell Capital and Artisan Partners pushed the board to remove him in 2021. He is on this list as the clearest cautionary case: the long-term commitment stayed, but its champion did not survive weak short-term numbers.