Since the end of last year, VF Corporation has operated under the steady influence of Benno Dorer, a German businessman who has spent his entire career in the consumer goods industry.
Dorer's ascension to the highest ranks of VF occurred in December of 2022, following the surprise departure of Steve Rendle, the company's long-time boss. Consequently, for the past few months, Dorer has served as the Interim President and CEO for VF, which is one of the world's largest apparel, footwear, and accessories providers. Among its businesses, VF is the parent company for The North Face, Timberland, and Vans. Dorer, who has served on VF's board of directors since February of 2017, has also acted as lead independent director from July 2021 until December 2022.
With more than three decades' worth of industry experience, Dorer has worked and lived in four countries during his long career. Prior to joining VF, he was most well-known for his lengthy tenure at The Clorox Company, where he served as both CEO and executive chairman. In these roles, he was responsible for leading the company's worldwide business, which generated revenues of $6.7 billion in fiscal year 2020. In fact, during the six years Dorer spent as CEO, Clorox more than doubled total shareholder return. Dorer, who joined Clorox in 2005, previously oversaw the company's laundry, home care, and international businesses.
Before taking on numerous roles at Clorox, Dorer was at Procter &Gamble. Overall, he spent 14 years there, working in various marketing and sales roles in the U.S. and Europe.
After growing up in Germany, Dorer received a degree in economics from the University of Freiburg in 1986. Four years later, he earned a graduate degree in business administration from Saarland University.
Today, Dorer is focused on giving back. He is known for passing on his many years of experience in global business leadership as an advisor, board director, coach, and philanthropist through his family foundation’s charitable efforts. In addition to his time at VF, he also serves on the board of directors of the Chabot Space & Science Center Foundation in Oakland, California. Previously he served as a member of the board of directors of The American Cleaning Institute.
As a testament to his leadership capabilities, Dorer’s employees regularly give him high ratings. In 2017, for instance, he was no. 1 on the annual Glassdoor list of most popular U.S. CEOs; and that same year he was ranked Most Admired Bay Area CEO. Two years later, the executive earned the no. 39 spot on Forbes Magazine’s list of most innovative CEOs in the U.S.