Vodafone CEO Nick Read To Step Down He would be replaced on an interim basis by finance chief Margherita Della Valle. Read will be available as an adviser to the board until 31 March 2023
By Shrabona Ghosh •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Britain's Vodafone Group on Monday announced chief executive officer Nick Read would step down at the end of this year and would be replaced on an interim basis by finance chief Margherita Della Valle. Read will be available as an adviser to the board until 31 March 2023.
"It has been a privilege to spend over 20 years of my career at Vodafone and I am proud of what we have delivered for customers and society across Europe and Africa. I agreed with the board that now is the right moment to hand over to a new leader who can build on Vodafone's strengths and capture the significant opportunities ahead," said Nick Read, group CEO, in a statement.
"On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Nick for his commitment and significant contribution to Vodafone as group CEO throughout his career spanning more than two decades with the company," said Jean-François van Boxmeer, chairman, Vodafone, in the statement.
During his four years as CEO, he led Vodafone through the pandemic and has focused Vodafone in Europe and Africa as a converged connectivity provider and led the industry in Europe in unlocking value from tower infrastructure.
"Margherita Dela Valle has recently been taking a broader operational role within the company and the board fully supports her as interim Group CEO," the chairman added.
This news comes at a time when Vodafone Idea is facing a financial crunch. According to an ET report, American Tower Corp (ATC) has in a recent filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that Vodafone Idea (Vi), its largest customer in India, may not be able to meet its operating obligations, including making future payments, which could have a material adverse effect on the US tower company's business and results of operations.
The 5G services were launched in India at India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Unlike Reliance Jio and Airtel that have given a time frame for the roll out of 5G services, Vodafone Idea is yet to disclose any rollout schedule.
