The current CEO of operator Orange, Stéphane Richard, in Barcelona, Spain on June 28, 2021 (AFP / Pau BARRENA)
A woman, an internal profile or an external candidate to lead Orange? The race to succeed Stéphane Richard, convicted in the Tapie / Credit Lyonnais affair, is accelerating, while the outgoing CEO is supposed to leave his post at the end of January.
Three profiles have already been selected by the group’s selection committee to become CEO: the current Deputy CEO, Ramon Fernandez, the sales manager of the American operator Verizon, Frank Boulben, and the president of Schneider Electric France, Christel Heydemann.
At the head of the historical operator since 2011, but sentenced in November in the arbitration case from which Bernard Tapie had benefited, Stéphane Richard must leave his functions on January 31 at the latest, while his mandate ran until mid-2022.
These few weeks should allow time to select the candidates to take over and put in place the new governance of the company, on which the State, the largest shareholder with more than 20% of the capital, has its say. to say.
A scenario studied for several months is almost certain: the separation of the functions of chairman and managing director.
Several groups in which the State is a shareholder have set up such governance, such as Renault, following the departure of Carlos Ghosn, or Engie, where Gérard Mestrallet went in 2016 from CEO to non-executive chairman.
Christel Heydemann, current president of Schneider Electric France, in Paris on November 21, 2017 (AFP / ERIC PIERMONT)
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, gives his preference to the appointment of a woman at the head of Orange, following hearing the three candidates “with interesting profiles”, including Christel Heydemann, the ministry told Wednesday. AFP.
“With equal skills, the minister wants a woman to take over the management of Orange,” said this source to the ministry, specifying that, if the State is a reference shareholder of Orange, “there is a recruitment process and a board of directors which ultimately decides “.
– Upcoming hearings at the Élysée? –
“The minister wants more women to access governance positions in large companies,” said the Ministry of the Economy, while only one woman currently heads a CAC 40 company in France, the general manager of Engie , Catherine McGregor. But from July 1, Estelle Brachlianoff will become CEO of Veolia.
The president of France Televisions, Delphine Ernotte, former director of Orange France, for her part denied any interest in the position.
“I will never be able to lose interest in the fate of Orange … Now, I left and (…) I have never regretted this choice. (…) I am well in my role as president of France Televisions and I fully intend to continue to exercise it until the end, “she said Wednesday on France Inter.
Beyond Bercy, the ball is now in the court of the Élysée. According to several media, its secretary general, Alexis Kohler, must hear the candidates before the board of directors of January 24 of the operator which must look at governance.
“There is a selection process underway, once more with a selection method, so the government does not have to interfere in this process”, commented on Wednesday Gabriel Attal, government spokesman, without want to confirm.
Operator Orange booth at the World Mobile Fair in Barcelona, Spain on June 29, 2021 (AFP / Josep LAGO)
Other points remain unresolved, including that of remuneration. With an annual salary of around 1.5 million euros, Stéphane Richard is one of the lowest paid managers of the CAC 40, which might be a subject of negotiations for the person selected.
In November, Stéphane Richard was found guilty of complicity in the misappropriation of public property in the controversial arbitration case rendered in 2008 between businessman Bernard Tapie, since deceased, and Credit Lyonnais. At the time, the head of Orange was chief of staff to the then Minister of the Economy, Christine Lagarde.
Present in 26 countries around the world, Orange is a telecoms giant which employs more than 140,000 people, including more than 80,000 in France. The French operator achieved a turnover of 42.27 billion euros in 2020.
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