The revolving door of chief executives at downtown-based nutrition supplement maker Herbalife Ltd. is making yet another turn.
On Aug. 31, Herbalife announced its chief executive, Stephan Gratziani will step down on Oct. 31, after just 17 months at the helm. Chief Financial Officer John DeSimone will take over as interim chief while a search is under way for a permanent replacement.
Gratziani will remain for an undetermined amount of time as a consultant to the company while turning his focus to his own Herbalife distributorship that includes nearly 700,000 distributors and preferred members, the announcement said.
The company noted in the announcement that when he joined Herbalife’s executive team in August 2023 as chief strategy officer, Gratziani signed a two-and-a-half-year agreement with the board. That term was up this past February. The company has termed his stepping down as chief executive part of a “planned transition.”
“Over the past several years, we have established a clear strategy and strengthened the company’s focus on our distributors and the markets they serve,” Gratziani said. “With the business now having returned to growth and a strong foundation in place, this is the right time for the company to enter its next phase, with an increased focus on execution and operations across our complex global company.”
When he assumes the post on Nov. 1, DeSimone will be the fifth different person to serve as the company’s chief executive in the last 10 years. And that’s not counting the fact that in that stretch, current board chairman Michael Johnson served as chief executive three different times: the first until June 2017, the second for a few months in 2019 and early 2020 and the third from late 2022 through May of last year.
Perhaps in reaction to the revolving door of chief executives in recent years, Herbalife shares fell nearly 12% to $10.99 on Aug. 31, the day of the latest announcement. The share price recovered most of that ground over the next couple sessions, closing on Sept. 2 at $12.17.
DeSimone has been with Herbalife for nearly 20 years, first as a special adviser to the chief executive. From 2010 to 2018, he served as chief financial officer for the first time. He went on to other roles including chief strategy officer and president, before returning to the chief financial officer post in 2024.
Challenging times
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, Herbalife has undergone numerous challenges. The pandemic itself disrupted operations worldwide, particularly in China.
During and after the pandemic, Herbalife struggled to recruit new distributors. That was complicated by supply chain disruptions and then rising prices for the ingredients for its nutrition supplements.
In 2024, then-chief executive Johnson implemented a restructuring that resulted in hundreds of layoffs.
Gratziani was brought in to return the company to growth mode. According to the latest earnings statement released last month, that growth has been modest. Revenue for 2025 was $5.04 billion, slightly above the $4.99 billion in 2024. For the 12-month period ending in June – which more closely coincides with Gratziani’s tenure at the helm – revenue growth has been higher as the company notched $5.2 billion in sales for a 3% growth rate, about even with overall inflation.
But net income, though positive, has trended downward, from $254 million in 2024 to $228 million in 2025 and $164 million for the 12-month period ending June 30. For the second quarter, net income was a loss of $26.3 million. The company attributed that loss to a debt refinancing that resulted in the recording of a line-item loss of $96 million.
During Gratziani’s three years in Herbalife’s c-suite, the company has bolstered its personalized nutrition offerings.
Herbalife made a series of acquisitions. That included London-based personalized supplements company Bioniq, Pro2Col Health of Tampa, Florida, and a controlling stake in Melissa, Texas-based manufacturing company Link BioSciences Inc.
In November, Herbalife opened a $7 million research and development center on its Torrance manufacturing campus that will focus on sensory science and quality control to help develop new nutrition products.
“The future of health and wellness is becoming more personalized and informed by data,” Gratziani said in the Bioniq purchase announcement.
