Salt CEO Pascal Grieder leaves

Grieder has decided to step down for personal reasons, Salt announced Friday. "We owe Pascal Grieder a great debt of gratitude," Salt Chairman Marc Furrer said in the communiqué.

Thanks to his strong leadership qualities, his great personal commitment and his unrelenting focus on quality, he has played a key role in shaping Salt into the fastest-growing telecommunications service provider in the premium sector.

Fixed network entry

Former McKinsey consultant Grieder had taken the helm at Salt in 2018 (Werbewoche.ch reported). His task was not an easy one. On the one hand, the guidelines from above are likely to be strict at Salt - owner Xavier Niel, the well-known French telecom entrepreneur, is regarded as a head of character. In addition, it has always been difficult for Salt to hold its own as the smallest of the three large telecom providers in Switzerland.

Grieder stepped in to revive Salt's growth. Shortly after joining, he announced the end of major downsizing steps and promised improvements in the harshly criticized customer service and corporate business.

One major project was the fiber optic expansion. When Grader took over, Salt had entered the fixed-network business, but was struggling. This was despite a major offensive - the new offering on the fiber-optic networks brought surfing speeds of 10 gigabits per second, ten times faster than the offerings at the time.

But the competition was unmoved. The heads of Swisscom and Sunrise explained at the time that they did not feel any "Salt" effect. On the contrary, they reported strong customer growth in the TV and Internet segments.

Setbacks in fiber optic partnerships

Another complicating factor was that the fixed-network business involved major investments. Attempts by Salt to find a partner had already failed in the past. Grieder now set up a cooperation with competitor Sunrise for the fiber optic expansion. But this project ultimately failed with the merger of UPC and Sunrise.

This left Salt on its own again. Finally, the telecommunications provider joined forces with Swisscom in 2021. But here, too, the road ahead is rocky. The Competition Commission stopped Swisscom's fiber-optic expansion on suspicion of abusive behavior by the market leader. In the meantime, Swisscom has given in to the pressure from the competition authorities and is expanding in accordance with the wishes of the Competition Commission. The deal with Salt has been adjusted.

Growth with limited resources

Despite these difficulties, Grieder was able to deliver on his growth promises: according to its own figures, Salt grew by 3.6 percent in 2021, significantly faster than the overall market. For the past year, only the figures after nine months are known, during which time the increase in sales was 4.2 percent.

Grieder had resolved not to drive growth at the expense of profitability. He succeeded in doing so, and operating profits increased.

Former Sunrise manager takes over

His successor will also have to continue balancing the necessary investments and profits. An initially planned IPO to raise further funds was cancelled by Salt. Growth is to be financed from operating cash flow.

The new Salt CEO, Max Nunziata, is no stranger to the industry. From 2013 to 2018, he was a member of the Sunrise Management Board, initially responsible for customer experience and later for corporate customer business. Nunziata grew up in Geneva and studied electrical engineering at ETH Zurich, specializing in telecommunications.

In addition to the telecommunications industry, he also brings management experience from completely different industries. Most recently, he was CEO of Bonuscard, the Cornèr Bank Group's provider of credit and prepaid cards. Nunziata will start on June 1. Until he takes up his post, chief financial officer Franck Bernard will lead Salt ad interim. Grieder will work closely with Bernard and Nunziata to ensure a smooth transition in the coming months, he said. (SDA)