Markus Haas hass to go: Telefónica Deutschland is looking for a new CEO
Telefónica Deutschland is terminating Markus Haas' contract early and looking for a new CEO. The head of the Spanish parent company has other plans.
Markus Haas 2019 at Basecamp in Berlin.
(Image: heise medien/Volker Briegleb)
The Telefónica Group is looking for a new boss for its German subsidiary: Markus Haas, CEO of Telefónica Deutschland since 2017, must step down from his position. This was announced by the company's Supervisory Board in Munich on Tuesday afternoon, confirming a report by Handelsblatt.
Change of strategy in Madrid
Chairman Peter Löscher informed the Supervisory Board on Tuesday that he was in talks with CEO Markus Haas regarding the premature termination of his contract as CEO, according to the press release. The search for a successor has begun. Markus Haas will remain in office as "managing director" until a successor is found.
The background to this is a change in strategy at the Spanish parent company. While Telefónica Deutschland was valued by CEO José María Álvarez-Pallete as a reliable profit generator, Marc Murtra, who was surprisingly appointed at the beginning of the year, apparently has other plans. Murtra intends to present his new strategy for the entire Group soon – and Haas will no longer play a role in it.
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Migration from 1&1
Specifically, Haas is being blamed for the loss of major customer 1&1 to competitor Vodafone, reports Handelsblatt, citing company sources. Around 12 million mobile phone customers will switch to the Vodafone network by the end of the year. So far, Telefónica Deutschland has not been able to compensate for this despite new partnerships such as with Freenet.
According to Handelsblatt, Alfons Lösing, who was responsible for the important partner business and thus the major customer 1&1 on the Management Board, is therefore also facing dismissal. He is to retire. His successor will be Jörg Kablitz, who is to move from PayPal to Telefónica Deutschland. According to Handelsblatt, Andreas Laukenmann, Head of Private Customers, is also under scrutiny.
Telefónica Deutschland only extended Haas' contract prematurely in January. The 53-year-old has been with the company since the 1990s, when it was still called Viag Interkom. He has accompanied and significantly shaped the rise of O2 from the very beginning. O2's long second-rate network became competitive under his leadership.
(vbr)
