In all likelihood, it is indeed Christel Heydemann, the current boss of Schneider Electric France, who should succeed Stéphane Richard as general manager of the incumbent operator. Opposed to Ramon Fernandez, the group’s financial director, and Frank Boulben, one of the bosses of the American operator Verizon, the latter has succeeded in recent days in winning the favor of the Elysée, shareholder of the incumbent operator.
The games would even be made, assures Expansion, for whom the appointment of the businesswoman should be effective in the coming days. While the succession of Stéphane Richard should lead to the establishment of a ticket associating general manager and non-executive president at the head of the operator, the economic title goes further by citing the names of Pascal Cagni and Jacques Aschenbroich for support Christel Heydemann at the head of Orange. Pascal Cagni and Jacques Aschenbroich are respectively founder of the European venture capital investment fund C4 Ventures and CEO of Valeo.
The headhunting agency Spencer Stuart had been mandated several weeks ago by the board of directors of Orange to find the successors to the current CEO of the operator. Pending the appointment, now probable of Christel Heydemann to the general management of Orange, Stéphane Richard should continue to ensure the interim at the head of the operator, a transitional phase which was to end on January 31 next.
A longer than expected interim for Stéphane Richard?
As a reminder, the CEO of Orange saw his adventure at the head of Orange come to an end after being sentenced on appeal to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 euros at the end of last year. The manager was then sentenced for complicity in the embezzlement of public funds in the Crédit Lyonnais arbitration process, at the end of which the businessman Bernard Tapie received some 400 million euros in 2008, following of the sale of Adidas by the banking group.
A new era should therefore begin for Orange, which must now prepare for the future. Its current CEO leaves the operator in any case on a positive dynamic, despite a lackluster first half of 2021. The incumbent operator recorded a net loss of 2.76 billion euros in the first half of its 2021 financial year, despite revenues up 1.5%, still driven by the Africa and Middle East zone. .
The next leader of Orange will have his work cut out for him as a number of hot topics to manage in France are crowding his doorstep. Starting with the copper switch, which should spice up the year, or even the preparation of the future call for tenders for the granting of frequencies devoted to 5G on the 26 GHz band.