Aurélien Fleurot 07:06, January 24, 2022

The current CEO of the telecom giant will be replaced by Christel Heydemann, the current vice-president Europe of Schneider Electric.

His candidacy benefited from the support of the executive and in particular that of Bruno Le Maire.

Its mission will be to reduce the payroll of the telecom giant as well as the development of new professions.

Handover week at Orange.

The succession of Stéphane Richard will materialize during a board of directors this Friday.

The current CEO should remain in place for a few weeks, the time to appoint a new president, but the question of general management will, on the other hand, be settled very quickly.

It is Christel Heydemann, current vice-president Europe of Schenider Electric, who should logically be designated. 

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There are only a few details left to settle and the appointment of Christel Heydemann will be formalized this Friday by the Orange board of directors.

The current Vice-President Europe of Schneider Electric, 47, was on the list drawn up by a headhunting firm.

Stéphane Richard, current CEO, had even blown his name well before his conviction on appeal in the Tapie / Crédit Lyonnais case on November 24.

It was when he thought of separating the presidency from the general management, as in many groups now.

A candidacy supported by the executive

However, Heydemann was obviously not one of the last two names retained by the Board of Directors.

The favorite in the eyes of several of its members was Frank Boulben, current director at Verizon in the United States.

But according to information from Figaro, he preferred to give up over the weekend. 

The decisive support in favor of Christel Heydemann, a polytechnician who spent 15 years at Alcatel, was that of the State, Orange's leading shareholder with 23%.

Bruno Le Maire had even clearly expressed his preference.

“With equal skills”, the wish of the Ministry of the Economy was “that it be a woman who takes over the management of Orange”.

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Despite friction within the Board of Directors, in particular because of the intervention of Bercy and the Elysée, the arrival of Christel Heydemann seems to be welcomed internally.

She "checks a lot of boxes", explained to Europe 1 a senior executive.

In particular, she held a position as director of human resources and social issues remain an ultra-sensitive subject at Orange, after the wave of suicides that the company has experienced. 

A busy schedule

Among the first projects of the future general manager, there will be that of the very large payroll of the telecom operator and its evolution towards new professions.

And then the company will have to find the person who will occupy the presidency, to form a pair.

Stéphane Richard should extend beyond January 31 to allow a smooth transition until the general meeting of shareholders next spring.

Among the names that are beginning to circulate, Pascal Cagni, currently head of the Business France agency and former European manager of Apple.

The name of Jacques Aschenbroich, who will soon leave the head of the automotive supplier Valeo, is also circulating.