SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- Telstra Corp. (TLS), Australia's largest telephone company, on Thursday named the former chief executive of U.S. West and France's Orange SA, Solomon Trujillo, as chief executive, replacing the ousted Ziggy Switkowski.
Trujillo will lead Telstra through its A$30 billion-plus full privatization, with the Australian government expected to sell its 51.8% stake in the company in the second half of 2006, and will also likely oversee a major restructuring of the business.
He will start July 1.
Trujillo, aged 53, will move from California to take up the Telstra job.
"The board is delighted with Mr. Trujillo's appointment," Telstra Chairman Donald McGauchie said in a statement released to the New Zealand Stock Exchange.
"We believe he well and truly meets the exacting criteria set down by the board for the task ahead. We unanimously agree that he is the best person to lead Telstra and believe this is an excellent outcome."
During his career, Trujillo has successfully managed fixed-line, mobile, broadband and directories businesses, McGauchie said.
Trujillo was previously a nonexecutive director and then chief executive Office of Orange, which is one of Europe's largest mobile companies, was the chief executive of technology company Gravitron and spent 26 years with US West Inc., including serving as its chairman, chief executive and president for five years.
"Trujillo has successfully led a number of major cultural and business change programs. We believe Telstra will similarly benefit from his pragmatic innovation, strategic and tactical thinking and outstanding implementation," McGauchie said.
"The board expects that Mr. Trujillo will drive cultural and organizational change throughout Telstra, enabling the corporation to further embrace a service driven, customer focused way of doing business," he said.
Trujillo, who has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the University of Wyoming, has been employed on an ongoing contract.
He will receive fixed annual pay of A$3 million, an annual short-term incentive of up to A$3 million, and an annual long-term incentive of up A$4 million.
These incentives are based on achieving performance milestones.
He will receive an initial sign-on payment of A$1 million and 50% of his first year incentive once he has joined Telstra.
In the statement, Trujillo said Telstra is one of the world's leading full-service telecommunications and information services companies.
The legacy of departing chief executive Switkowski is to have "positioned the company well to meet the next stage of commercial and technical challenges of the new millennium and continue the development of this industry in one of the most important markets in the world."
Trujillo is currently sitting on the boards of PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), Target Corp. (TGT), Gannett Co. (GCI) and Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS). He will leave all but one of these board positions.
-By Stephen Wright, Dow Jones Newswires;
61-2-8235-2950; stephen.wright@dowjones.com
-Edited by Paul Godby
(END) Dow Jones Newswires"
Posted to the site on 9th June 2005
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/13101.php