Favorite from the start, Jacques Aschenbroich won the race for the presidency of Orange. The candidacy of the current president of Valeo was selected on Thursday March 24 by the governance committee of the board of directors of the telecom operator, learned The world. His appointment will be submitted for the approval of the directors on March 30. The shareholders will then have to vote at the general meeting on May 19.
Mr. Aschenbroich will replace Stéphane Richard, whose term of office expired in May and who had to give up standing for four years due to his conviction on appeal in November 2021 in the Tapie case. Mr. Aschenbroich will lead Orange in tandem with Christel Heydemann, the future chief executive, who will take office on April 4. “She was involved in the entire selection process”says a close source.
Orange was not overwhelmed with applications for a position that required a sufficiently seasoned leader to support Mr.me Heydemann, 47, but not too young to avoid the risk of encroaching on her toes. Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, would have liked a 100% female management duo. Anne Bouverot, the president of Technicolor, has long been on the short list corn “her past experience at Orange, under the direction of the former CEO, Didier Lombard, played against her”, decrypts a close to the file. The name of Patricia Barbizet, former director of Artémis, the holding company of the Pinault family, was also mentioned.
Employee concerns
As it gained in probability, the appointment of Mr. Aschenbroich aroused tensions at the telecom operator. The employee shareholders of Orange, holders of 7% of the capital and 11% of the voting rights, were publicly moved on March 14 by the group’s plan to modify its statutes in order to allow its future president to remain in office even after the age limit of 70, a provision from which Mr. Aschenbroich will be able to benefit. He will turn 68 on June 3.
Without mentioning the former CEO of Valeo by name, the employees were worried that the presidency could be entrusted to a “septuagenarian, while the stakes” telecommunications “need younger leaders”. They were also surprised that Orange is rolling out the red carpet to a president close to 70 years old, while at the same time the operator is encouraging its employees to retire from 57 years old. They announced their intention to vote against the resolution to change the articles of association at the general meeting.
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