Posted on Jan 7, 2022, 9:07 amUpdated Jan 7, 2022, 7:24 PM
Who will succeed Stéphane Richard at the head of Orange? If, apparently, the process is continuing with three preselected candidates for the general management of the incumbent telecoms operator, behind the scenes, the equation promises to be very complex …
Officially, Ramon Fernandez, Deputy Managing Director Finance, Performance and Development of Orange, Christel Heydemann, Director of Orange and boss of Schneider in Europe, and Franck Boulben, a former Orange currently “chief revenue officer” at Verizon in the States -Unis are on the track, as announced by “Liberation” at the end of the week.
No infatuation
But if they were selected by the selection committee of the board of directors of Orange, none of them would be unanimous within the State, the largest shareholder of Orange. Credible candidate, Ramon Fernandez would not be “in the small papers” of the Elysee. The international profile of Franck Boulben might perhaps seduce, just like that of the polytechnician Christel Heydemann, even if neither of the two would arouse real enthusiasm. “A woman would represent the choice of modernity”, we hear backstage.
“There is this feeling at the Elysee Palace that the search for the right candidate has not been completed and that there may be other people to see”, explains a source familiar with the matter. However, many “big fish” have been approached for several months. “All politely declined,” says a good connoisseur of the file. It is a fact and above all a true paradox: Orange, one of the biggest groups in the CAC 40, does not make people dream!
A problem of attractiveness
First of all, the splitting up of the functions of chairman and managing director, desired by the State, has reduced the attractiveness of the post, in particular for “heavyweights”. Nicolas Dufourcq the boss of the BPI would have declined for this reason. Not sure, however, that the State wants to reverse this dissociation …
Then the presence of the State in the capital (23% of the shares) discourages more than it encourages candidates – even more foreigners – who fear too narrow a margin of maneuver. Finally, the salary, around a million for that of general manager, and 500,000 euros for that of chairman, is low compared to the salaries of the bosses of large French groups. Moreover, the president being non-executive, there is no longer any real stake in this post.
Extension of Stéphane Richard
It also appears less and less credible that a double appointment occurs before the deadline set of January 31. This deadline had been imposed by Bercy, anxious to show its resolution not to retain a boss convicted in court. But the weeks go by. The choice of the future general manager is not necessary and if he ever came from outside, his entry into office would necessarily be postponed in time. As for the recruitment of the president, it is all the less advanced since it is necessary to form a pair – ideally male / female and especially compatible personalities – with this elusive future CEO.
The hypothesis of an extension of Stéphane Richard beyond January 31 is therefore increasingly mentioned. Some even imagine him going to the end of his term in May. “He is not prevented. It is not Carlos Ghosn, held in a cell on the other side of the planet, ”comments a member of the group’s governing bodies. Even the unions who called for his immediate departure following his conviction admit that internally, “Stéphane Richard’s aura is not so tarnished. This will not cause an uproar in the company ”.
Still, Bercy, who had insisted on this tight schedule, would be forced to eat his hat. Given the difficulties, he might be forced to do so, but that will not dissuade the authorities from wanting this inextricable succession story to be resolved as quickly as possible: the government above all does not want it to disrupt the April electoral deadline.
