Not every seasoned CEO returns to a Fortune 500 company after retirement. Michael Polk Newell Brands made a deliberate choice to go a different direction, and the reasoning behind that choice has drawn attention from business observers and executives alike.

Polk’s resume spans decades of senior leadership at recognizable public companies. He worked at Kraft Foods and Unilever before becoming CEO of Newell Brands in 2012. His time at Newell Brands was marked by ambitious growth, including a rebranding of the company and an expansion of its enterprise value from $5 billion to more than $15 billion. When he retired in 2019, he left a clear record of results.

Entering the Private Sector

His return to work came in 2020 with Implus LLC, a private company housed within the Berkshire Partners portfolio. Implus manages 16 brands across fitness accessories and active lifestyle categories. For Polk, the opportunity to lead a private organization offered something the public company world could not: direct involvement in the daily work of building a business.

He arrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period that tested the resilience of companies across every sector. Rather than defaulting to stabilization mode, Michael Polk used the moment to reshape Implus’s operating model and build the financial foundation needed for long-term growth.

The Value of Fewer Layers

Polk has been candid about what he gained by moving to a leaner organizational structure. In large public companies, decisions flow through extensive hierarchies. A CEO can set strategy and allocate resources, but the actual brand-building work happens several layers down. At Implus, that distance does not exist.

“I spend much more time doing the brand and business development work directly with my team as opposed to focusing on resource allocation and having to work through layers in the organization to influence the demand-creation or cost-reduction choices people are making. I am right there with them in the crucible, helping them make the choices that are going to drive our business forward,” Michael Polk explained.

He also highlights how private organizations develop talent more quickly than their public counterparts, precisely because employees must take on larger responsibilities earlier. “They grow and learn by doing,” he said, describing senior leaders as player-coaches who engage directly in key decisions while also helping their teams manage risk. For Michael Polk, that environment has made his second act feel anything but secondary. See related link for additional information.

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