French Govt's Richard To Head France Telecom-Senior Official
07 Mai 2009 - 12:07AM
Dow Jones News
The French finance ministry's chief of staff, Stephane Richard,
will head up the country's telecommunications giant France Telecom
SA (FTE) in 2011, a senior government official told Dow Jones
Newswires late Wednesday.
Richard would succeed France Telecom's 67-year-old CEO, Didier
Lombard, whose mandate will come to an end in 2011. Richard's
appointment already has been approved by the country's ethics board
that vets moves of government officials into top jobs in private
industry, the senior source said.
France Telecom declined to comment.
French Business daily Les Echos reported on its Web site that
Richard's appointment was forced through by the government, which
holds a sizable minority stake in the former State
telecommunications monopoly.
Richard would be the second high-ranking government official to
be shifted to head a major French institution in the past few
months.
Sarkozy's senior advisor, Francois Perol, was appointed head of
the giant French mutual bank to be formed by the merger of mutuals
Caisse d'Epargne and Banque Populaire.
-By Geraldine Amiel and A.H. Mooradian; Dow Jones Newswires; +33
1 4017 1740; geraldine.amiel@dowjones.com and
art.mooradian@dowjones.com.