Clorox announced Monday that president Linda Rendle has been promoted to CEO and elected to the board of directors as the company’s quarterly report revealed that the coronavirus pandemic caused sales to jump 22% — the new announcement makes Rendle one of a few women at the helm of a S&P 500 company.
KEY FACTS
Rendle, who has worked at Clorox for 17 years, will start her new role on September 14 and current CEO Benno Dorer will continue to hold his role as the board’s executive chair.
Rendle will join a small group of women to lead S&P 500 companies: as of last month there were 30 women CEOs, representing just 6% of the S&P 500, according to women’s leadership nonprofit Catalyst.
Research has shown that women are more likely to be picked to lead a struggling company than a successful one, a trend referred to as the “glass cliff,” which often sets the CEO up for a higher likelihood of failure — but Rendle’s appointment comes as Clorox closed the 2020 fiscal year on a high note.
Clorox’s quarterly earnings report showed that net sales increased from $1.63 billion to $1.98 billion year-over-year, a 22% increase and diluted earnings increased from $1.88 to $2.41, a 28% increase year-over-year.
In the 2020 fiscal year, net sales increased from $6.21 billion to $6.72 billion year-over-year, an 8% increase and diluted earnings increased from $6.32 to $7.36, a 16% increase year-over-year.
Clorox’s share price increased 53% in the last 52 weeks, outpacing the S&P 500 which increased by 15%.
key background
Just last week, an Axios Harris Poll 100 found that Clorox is among the top five high-profile U.S. companies with the best reputations, alongside The Hershey Company, Amazon, Publix Supermarkets and General Mills. As companies hope to make potential customers feel comfortable during the pandemic, Uber and United Airlines have both launched partnerships with Clorox.
tangent
The term “glass cliff” was first coined by University of Exeter researchers Michelle Ryan and Alexander Haslam in 2005. “The glass cliff is a phenomenon whereby women (and other minority groups) are more likely to occupy positions of leadership that are risky and precarious,” Ryan told Vox. “This can happen when share price performance is poor, when facing a scandal, or when the role involves reputational risk.”
