The clock is ticking, but nothing, still nothing is on the horizon of Orange, who continues to look for his or her future CEO. While the days of Stéphane Richard at the head of the incumbent operator are numbered and the latter has already indicated that he would be packing up on January 31, the profile of the candidates for his succession was still slow to emerge. let people know … at least until Thursday evening and the disclosure of three names, which today seem to stand out from the crowd to take over the general management of the operator – who will very likely return to a general manager-chairman diptych at the end of the interim of its current CEO.
In this list of usual suspects, first revealed by Release, appears first of all a name well known internally, namely that of Ramon Fernandez, the current deputy managing director of Orange and number two at the operator, in particular in charge of the group’s finances. Then follows that of Christel Heydemann, the current president of Schneider Electric and member of the Schneider Electric Executive Committee, who joined the group in April 2017. While the government, which will have a say in this matter, seeks to feminize management large French groups, his profile would have everything to please on the side of the Elysée.
This is without counting the last candidate to succeed Stéphane Richard, namely Frank Boulben, the current CFO of the American operator Verizon, who will be able to capitalize on his experience across the Atlantic to seduce the directors of Orange, in task of finding the successor of Stéphane Richard. Time is running out for them as the game of musical chairs begins in the staff of the incumbent, which has just seen the general manager of its B to B branch, Helmut Reisinger, leave.
A 100% female ticket?
The appointment of a president at the head of Orange should for its part only take place after the presidential elections and therefore be much less politicized than that of the future general manager of the incumbent operator. Names like those of Delphine Ernotte (current CEO of France Télévisions and former manager of Orange), Stéphane Pallez (current CEO of the FDJ), Clara Gaymard (the former president of General Electrics France) or even Patricia Barbize (president of Témaris et Associé) are mentioned in particular.
As a reminder, the current CEO of Orange, Stéphane Richard, was sentenced on appeal to one year suspended prison sentence and a 50,000 euro fine after being released at first instance in 2019. The verdict was delivered on Wednesday November 24 by the Paris Court of Appeal, and condemns the leader for complicity in the embezzlement of public funds in the Crédit Lyonnais arbitration process, at the end of which the businessman Bernard Tapie had received some 400 million euros in 2008, following the sale of Adidas by the banking group.
The CEO of Orange had submitted his resignation to the board of directors of the operator a few hours after his conviction. And to specify that “this will be effective from the establishment of a new governance and no later than January 31, 2022” … a fateful deadline which is approaching more and more, to the chagrin of the Orange staff.