Kimberly-Clark promotes Russ Torres to president, COO
Kimberly-Clark Corp. has named Russ Torres president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.
Promoted from president of the company's North America business, Torres will now be responsible for the day-to-day operations of Kimberly-Clark's business segments. He will also have responsibility for the Global Supply Chain, R&D, Global Growth and Digital Technology Solutions organizations. He will continue to report to Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu.
Kurt Laufer, current president of US consumer sales, will serve as interim president, North America, while the company conducts a search to identify a permanent successor.
During his tenure with the company, Torres has also served as group president, K-C North America since 2021, where he was responsible for the consumer business in North America, and as president of K-C Professional from 2020 to 2021, where he led business-to-business operations globally. Torres has more than 25 years of experience in the consumer product goods industry, and prior to Kimberly-Clark served in a number of key senior leadership roles at Newell Brands, Bain & Company and Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods).
"Russ is a purpose-driven leader who has driven commercial transformation and outstanding results in the businesses he has led," said Hsu. "Under his leadership, Kimberly-Clark's North America business strengthened its growth trajectory, achieving mid-single digit compound annual growth. As we embark on the next phase of our Powering Care strategy focused on bringing our global expertise and best-in-K-C proprietary technologies to every market, I'm excited to partner with Russ as we accelerate progress on our enterprise transformation. We're more focused than ever on sharpening operational execution to drive enhanced growth and profitability. Russ is the right leader to take on this new role."
Torres said, "There is incredible potential still to be unlocked at Kimberly-Clark, and I look forward to working with our teams around the world to continue to execute on Powering Care, build on the power of our brands across the mega categories we serve and usher in the next chapter of growth."
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The March/April issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about Industrial Supply Co. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dr. Bharani Nagarathnam and Frank Hurtte, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
