Orange CEO Stéphane Richard, whose mandate at the head of the telephone operator comes to an end in mid-2022, formulated in the Sunday newspaper the “Personal wish” to remain chairman of the group after this date, by separating the function of chief executive officer. “To remain in the group as chairman in a renewed and dissociated governance is my personal wish, but it will of course be up to the board of directors to decide”, he said in the weekly.
“Being the chairman of the board is a function that takes more and more time”, he adds. “At the same time, I observe that recent changes in the governance of CAC 40 companies have led to the separation of the functions of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer. I think it’s a good thing if the tandem works. It will naturally be up to Orange shareholders to decide when the time comes ”.
The French telecoms giant, which recorded a net loss of 2.76 billion euros in the first half, mainly due to a depreciation of assets in Spain, has as its largest shareholder the French State, which holds 23% of the group’s capital and 29.43% of the voting rights at General Meetings.
Serenity in the face of the Tapie affair
Orange was recently singled out by the government following a vast malfunction of the emergency numbers system in France, making it for many French people inaccessible or reachable only after multiple attempts on 15, 17, 18 and 112.
Stéphane Richard, CEO of Orange since 2011, has also displayed his serenity before the Paris Court of Appeal renders its decision in early October in the Bernard Tapie case, in which he is accused of “complicity in fraud” and “complicity in embezzlement of public funds”.
“I hope to be relaxed, as in the first instance”, he told the JDD. “If there were to be a conviction, the board of directors and I would immediately review the situation and make the necessary decisions in the interests of Orange”.
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