"Unilever, after paying a record $1 billion for the company, offloaded a majority stake to private-equity firm Nexus Capital Management in 2023 for an undisclosed sum. And although Unilever never broke out Dollar Shave Club's results, former Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher said at the time of the sale, "Not all of our acquisitions have delivered, and we've made some unsuccessful attempts to move away from our core.""
"Post-acquisition, Unilever moved the brand away from its core values while also scaling back its investment in product quality, said Bodner. "They neutered the voice of the brand. They tried to make it too corporate, and they lost that irreverent, 'on the edge' humor. And when you do that, you lose the consumer," he said. Since prior leadership under Unilever was worried about cannibalizing its bread-and-butter consumer sales, it was also slower than its competitors, like Harry's, in releasing products in stores, Bodner said."
Dollar Shave Club peaked in the mid-2010s after a 2012 viral ad, then was acquired by Unilever for $1 billion and later had a majority stake sold to Nexus Capital Management in 2023 for an undisclosed sum. Unilever reduced investment in product quality and shifted the brand toward a more corporate tone, which CEO Larry Bodner says diluted the irreverent voice and lost consumers. Prior Unilever leadership delayed in-store releases to avoid cannibalizing core sales, allowing competitors to gain ground. Bodner is pursuing a strategy to restore brand voice, improve product quality, and rebuild DTC momentum amid sector-wide DTC declines.
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