Olam Group’s Founder Sunny Verghese to Step Down as CEO in April, Marking End of an Era
April 11 - 2026
Coffee Geography Magazine
Singapore-listed agri-business giant Olam Group announced on Friday that co-founder and long-time Chief Executive Sunny Verghese will step down from his role at the end of April, capping a four-decade career at the helm of the commodity trading house.
Verghese, who built Olam from a single cashew trading desk in 1989 into a global food conglomerate operating across 60 countries, will relinquish his position as group CEO following the company’s annual meeting on April 27. The move is the centerpiece of a major reshuffle that will also see Chairman Lim Ah Doo and Group CFO N. Muthukumar exit their current roles.
While Verghese is stepping back from the parent company, he is not leaving the Olam ecosystem. He will remain chief executive of Olam Agri, the bulk grains and edible oils division that is currently being sold to Saudi Arabia’s Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company, or SALIC. That state-owned Saudi firm first acquired a stake in Olam Agri in 2022, and in 2025 agreed to increase its holding to 80 percent, with an option to buy the remainder within three years. Plans for an initial public offering of the Agri unit in Singapore and Saudi Arabia have hit regulatory snags, leaving Verghese to steer the division through its transition to Saudi ownership. Joining him in that effort is outgoing group CFO Muthukumar, who will assume the role of chief operating officer of Olam Agri, a position he has held since March 2025.
The sweeping changes are part of a years-long restructuring plan initiated in 2020 to break up the sprawling conglomerate into three distinct, investor-friendly units: Olam Agri, the food ingredients business OFI, and the so-called Remaining Olam Group, or OGH. Under the new leadership structure, Gautam Wadhwa has been appointed CEO of the Remaining Olam Group, where he will be charged with divesting the unit’s remaining assets and businesses. The head of OFI remains unchanged. Meanwhile, Venkataraman Krishnan steps in as the new group CFO, and deputy chairman Yap Chee Keong will take over as chairman following Lim Ah Doo’s departure.
Olam stated that the leadership changes reflect the board’s commitment to “strengthening its corporate governance and transparency standards.” The company plans to appoint a lead independent director from its existing board and will add another in the second half of the year. Further role replacements are expected after the annual general meeting later in April.
Verghese’s departure marks the end of a tumultuous yet transformative era. He famously defended the company against a devastating short-seller attack by Muddy Waters in 2012, which questioned Olam’s debt levels and business model. That crisis eventually led to a strategic takeover by Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek, which now holds just over half of the company. Today, Olam supplies food and industrial raw materials to over 20,900 customers worldwide, ranking among the largest suppliers of cocoa beans, coffee, cotton and rice.
The transitions will take effect immediately following the annual general meeting on April 27, as Olam presses forward with its goal to simplify its corporate structure, reduce debt levels, and give investors clearer visibility into each of its business segments.