Telecom and media company, Millicom announced today that Hans-Holger Albrecht has informed the Board of Directors of his intention to step down as President and CEO of Millicom at year-end.
The Board of Directors has initiated a search process for Hans-Holger Albrecht’s successor. A committee comprising the Chairman, Cristina Stenbeck, and directors Dame Amelia Fawcett and Paul Donovan has been formed to select the new CEO and will be assisted by Egon Zehnder.
The Board has asked Tim Pennington, Chief Financial Officer, to assume the role of interim CEO until a permanent successor has been appointed. Tim will be working closely with the members of the Executive Committee and with the Board of Directors to ensure the key strategic initiatives and priorities for 2015 continue to be executed.
Hans-Holger Albrecht became President and CEO of Millicom on 1 November 2012. During his tenure there he has played a key role in developing and executing Millicom’s strategy to transform it from a pure telecommunications company to its current Digital Lifestyle proposition for Tigo customers in Latin America and Africa.
Hans-Holger Albrecht was appointed President and CEO of Millicom on November 1st 2012.
Previously he was President and CEO of Modern Times Group MTG AB for 12 years. Hans-Holger started his career at MTG in 1997 as head of the pay-TV operations, before being appointed as Business Area Manager in 1999 and thus assuming responsibility for the free-TV division as well. In April 2000, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of MTG. Before joining MTG, Hans-Holger worked for the Luxembourg-based media group CLT from 1991 to 1996 and for Daimler-Benz in 1990. Hans-Holger Albrecht graduated in Law at the University of Freiburg in Germany, studied at Yale University in the U.S. and received a PhD at the University of Bochum, Germany. Hans-Holger Albrecht holds 8,810 Millicom shares.
Cristina Stenbeck, Chairman of Millicom, said “The Board of Directors would like to thank Hans-Holger for his significant contribution to Millicom over the last two years. In a short period of time, Hans-Holger has successfully created and executed a first-class business strategy which has produced a combination of growth and innovation, completed a successful merger in Colombia and leaves an effective leadership team to manage the business. I know the strong momentum for driving the current strategy and focusing on financial performance will continue. I have worked with Hans-Holger over many years and I am grateful for what he has helped to create.”
Hans-Holger Albrecht commented “Leading Millicom through this phase of transformation has been a most exciting and rewarding experience. The company is now completely focused on delivering an exciting portfolio of digital services to over 50 million customers on two continents.”
He continued “I feel now is the right time to spend time developing a number of entrepreneurial projects and return to the media sector where there are a number of exciting new trends. It has been a great privilege to work with so many talented people. I remain available to assist Tim Pennington and the Chairman during the transition and I will continue to be engaged as senior advisor to the Chairman of the Board as new businesses are built and new products and services are launched.”
