General Mills names COO Dana McNabb CEO effective Jan. 1; Harmening to executive chair

General Mills is handing the chief executive role to a 27-year company veteran. In a Form 8-K reporting a Sept. 29 board action and a Wednesday press release, the packaged-foods company said directors unanimously elected Chief Operating Officer Dana M. McNabb as chief executive officer effective Jan. 1, 2027. Jeffrey L. Harmening is retiring as CEO and will become executive chair of the board on the same date.

McNabb, 50, has been COO since June 2026 and sits on the board. She joined General Mills in 1999 and later led U.S. Cereal, Europe & Australia, enterprise strategy and growth, North America Retail, and North America Retail and Pet. As COO she leads all four operating segments and key functions including sales, supply chain, and innovation, technology and quality, the release said.

For the CEO role, the board set McNabb’s base salary at $1,350,000 and an annual cash incentive target of 180% of base salary, plus an incremental target long-term incentive award of $2,100,000 split among performance share units (50%), RSUs (25%), and stock options (25%) under the 2022 Stock Compensation Plan. As executive chair, Harmening’s base salary will be reduced to $1,100,000 and his annual cash incentive target to 125% of base salary.

By the numbers

• Effective date: Jan. 1, 2027
• McNabb CEO base salary: $1,350,000; annual bonus target: 180% of salary
• Incremental LTI target: $2,100,000 (50% PSUs / 25% RSUs / 25% options)
• Harmening executive chair base: $1,100,000; bonus target: 125% of salary
• McNabb tenure at General Mills: since 1999; COO since June 2026

Sources

1. General Mills, Inc. Form 8-K (Item 5.02), accepted Sept. 30, 2026 7:33:56 a.m. ET, accession 0001628280-26-063892
2. General Mills, Inc. Form 8-K Exhibit 99 (press release), accession 0001628280-26-063892

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