Salt: Andreas Schönenberger becomes new CEO

The 50-year-old Swiss will take up his new post in mid-March, Salt announced on Monday. Schönenberger succeeds Swede Johan Andsjö, who resigned unexpectedly in December (Werbewoche.ch reported). In the meantime, Pierre-Alain Allemand led the company on an interim basis. It is not known why Andsjö abruptly threw in the towel in December, effective immediately. Some media speculated that it had something to do with the change of ownership. Others denied this. The fact is that Salt was sold around ten months before Andsjö's departure. The new owner is the French telecom entrepreneur Xavier Niel - or more precisely, his private holding NJJ Capital. Niel is regarded as an enigmatic entrepreneur. With his company Iliad, he plowed up the French telecommunications market within a short time. When he took over the then Orange, the financial community expected competition to flare up in the Swiss telecommunications market. The Swisscom share price plummeted significantly at times.

Satisfied with owner

The future boss certainly seems to be satisfied with the new owner: "I am thrilled to have an experienced and successful entrepreneur as owner who is pursuing a long-term perspective," Schönenberger is quoted as saying in the statement. And the owner also has favorable words for the future boss: "I am convinced that with the appointment of Andreas as CEO of Salt, we have a strong management team to implement our strategy for profitable growth and innovation in Switzerland," Xavier Niel is quoted as saying - in the style of the duz culture customary in the industry. Niel had been looking for a Swiss as his new boss, Salt spokeswoman Therese Wenger confirmed to the SDA news agency. The Sonntagszeitung, citing Niel's entourage, had already reported that Niel's representatives wanted a boss who knew Switzerland very well, because the country was "roughly the opposite" of France (Werbewoche.ch reported). According to the NZZ am Sonntag, the future chairman of Salt's board of directors is also a Swiss. However, the name is not yet known. The current Chairman, Thomas Sieber, is to be elected as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of the energy group Axpo in March.

Well known in the industry

The future Salt CEO, Andreas Schönenberger, already knows the mobile communications industry: He is President of Smama (the swiss mobile association). He also sits on the board of directors of cell phone seller Mobilezone - but only until he takes up his post at Salt. At Salt, he will also play a key role in consolidating the management team, according to the press release. Last year, there were numerous changes in top management. In the summer, four of seven top managers had left the company. Schönenberger is also "a pioneer for digitization in Switzerland," the statement said. This broad knowledge will be crucial for Salt's further development. The future boss also sits and has sat on various boards of directors, such as those of health insurer Sanitas and former advertising marketer Publigroupe. He holds a doctorate in theoretical physics from ETH Zurich. (SDA9

Image: Publigroupe.com