Kraft Heinz Gave New CEO Wiggle Room to Back Away From Split

When Steve Cahillane accepted the job to run Kraft Heinz Co. in December, he backed the company’s planned separation, but the board gave him leeway to rip up that playbook. On Wednesday, he did.

“I never felt stuck with the decision,” the chief executive officer said of splitting up the company. Cahillane halted the process on Wednesday, telling Bloomberg News he had directors’ backing. “The board said, at the very beginning: ‘You should reserve the right to get smarter and bring us along on what you’re learning.’”

Just five weeks after taking the company’s helm on Jan. 1, Cahillane said ...