Major Mondelez Shareholders Losing Patience with CEO

Mondelez International (NASDAQ: MDLZ) Chief Exuective Officer Irene Rosenfeld is facing a lot of discontent from the company's largest investors. The New York Post reported that famed activist Nelson Peltz, along with three other top shareholders, are growing discontent.

“When a CEO consistently misses her numbers, no one likes that,” a top four shareholder told the New York Post.

The company recently cut its full-year revenue outlook, which has been par for the course. The company has consistently reported disappointing earnings since the company was split off from Kraft Foods (NASDAQ: KRFT).

After the split, Mondelez set a first-year target of five to seven percent operating profit growth. The results after the first nine months turned out to be a disappointing 4.3 percent.

The discontent among the large shareholders comes at a time when Peltz has made it clear he wants to see the company combine forces with PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP). Peltz is no stranger to the food and beverage industry, having bought Snapple in 1997.

During CNBC's Delivering Alpha conference, Peltz commented that Pepsi (of which he is also a major shareholder) should buy Mondelez to create a $70 billion food and beverage global company. Peltz separately commented that Rosenfeld was “running out of time” with investors.

Peltz and the other major investors have an uphill battle to fight if they want to change the company's strategy and direction. According to a source, the board of directors “has great confidence in Irene,” and believes she deserves to maintain top ranks for the next several years.