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Revision as of 12:24, 24 July 2012
| Léo Apotheker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1953-09-18) 18 September 1953 (age 71) Aachen, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Education | Hebrew University |
| Occupation(s) | Board member, Schneider Electric SA |
| Known for | CEO, Hewlett-Packard(2010-2011) CEO, SAP AG(2008-2010) |
Léo Apotheker (born September 18, 1953, in Aachen, Germany) is a German business executive. He was the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, serving in that position from November 2010 till September 2011; and the former CEO of SAP AG, from April 2008 to February 2010.
During his tenure as CEO of HP, which was between the 2007–2012 global financial crisis, the company lost more than $30 billion in market capitalization leading to his resignation on September 22, 2011.
At SAP, where he joined in 1988 and spent more than 20 years; he played an instrumental role in developing and implementing the most significant changes in SAP's history.
He currently sits on the board of Schneider Electric SA, GT Nexus, and PlaNet Finance - a non-profit organization. Apotheker is fluent in five languages—German, Dutch, French, English and Hebrew.
Early life and education
Apotheker's parents were Polish Jews who fled to the Russo-Chinese border after the Nazis invaded Poland at the outbreak of World War II. After the war, they settled in Aachen, Germany, where Léo Apotheker was born on September 18, 1953. He later moved to Antwerp, Belgium.
By his own account, he organized a student strike in high school, and had two of his teeth knocked out by a policeman on horseback in the melee that followed. At the age of 18 he moved to Israel where he studied economics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Career
Early career and SAP : 1988 - 2010
Prior to joining SAP in 1988, Apotheker held several financial and operations positions at European companies.
After joining SAP, he held positions of increasing responsibility; and in 1995 was promoted to CEO and founder of SAP France and SAP Belgium. Later in 1997, he became the president of SAP's South West Europe region; and by 1999, president of SAP EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) sales region.
He joined the SAP AG executive board in 2002, and served as the president of global customer solutions and operations from 2002 to 2007. He was appointed deputy CEO in 2007; and promoted to co-CEO of the company in April 2008 to ensure a smooth handover from his predecessor, Henning Kagermann, when the latter's contract with the company expired. The succession plan was communicated in the business media early in 2008, including Forbes magazine. The transition received praise as an example of SAP's corporate culture, "a seemingly contradictory mix of internal consensus and competition".
Apotheker's appointment to lead SAP was the second occasion, after 1997 Ron Sommer's appointment as CEO of Deutsche Telekom, that a large German company was run by a Jewish executive whose parents escaped the Holocaust. “If SAP had a pre-war history, I would never have joined the company,” he told The Economist.
Apotheker took an early opportunity to set out his vision for the IT industry, and explained enterprise software in layman's terms (likening it to the human nervous system), in an interview with prominent American journalist Charlie Rose. He also articulated SAP's commitment to sustainability.
On February 7, 2010, the SAP supervisory board reached an agreement with Apotheker not to extend his contract as a member of the SAP executive board. With this decision, he stepped down as CEO and resigned from SAP.
Hewlett-Packard : 2010 - 2011
On September 30, 2010, the Board of Directors of Hewlett-Packard announced the election of Apotheker as the company's Chief Executive Officer and President, effective November 1. He succeeded Cathie Lesjak, who served as the company's interim CEO since August 6, following the abrupt departure of former CEO Mark Hurd. Hurd had been forced to resign after an internal investigation into a sexual harassment claim uncovered expense-account irregularities.
During Apotheker's tenure at HP the stock dropped about 40%. It dropped nearly 25% on 19 August 2011, after HP announced a strategic decision to discontinue its webOS device business (mobile phones and tablet computers), with a possibility of divesting its consumer PC division; and acquire British software firm - Autonomy Corporation.
On September 22, 2011, the HP board of directors replaced Apotheker as CEO with fellow board member and ex-CEO of eBay, Meg Whitman. Though Apotheker served less than 11 months as CEO, he received over US$13 million in compensation: a severance payment of $7.2 million, shares worth $3.56 million and a performance bonus of $2.4 million, although the company lost more than $30 billion in market capitalization during his tenure.
After HP : 2011 - till date
After HP, he returned to Paris with his US$25 million payout. He along with some private-equity firms in Silicon Valley is considering to invest in mature and distressed companies. On March 2012, he appeared on a conference call, hosted by Nomura Securities’ analyst Rick Sherlund.
A report point out that some of the strategic decisions he advocated as HP CEO, has turned out to be more right than wrong; which was evident in HP’s first quarter results in March 2012, where enterprise software and enterprise integration businesses — an Apotheker priority — were the major contributors. An indication that the US$10-plus billion buyout of Autonomy, which he championed, might have paid off.
Board memberships
He currently sits on the supervisory boards of Schneider Electric SA and GT Nexus. He is also a board member of PlaNet Finance - a non-profit organization.
Personal life
He is married and his wife is a Hebrew-speaking Belgian.
See also
References
- "Hewlett-Packard replaces Leo Apotheker with Meg Whitman". BBC News. 09-22-2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Aaron Ricadela (2010-10-01). "Hewlett-Packard Names Leo Apotheker CEO". Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- ^ L.S. and M.G. (2010-10-01). "The Léo Way". The Economist. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- "SAP names Leo Apotheker as co-CEO". Forbes Magazine. 2008-04-02. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
- "The Other Transition". Vol. 390, no. 8612. The Economist. 2009-01-03. p. 49. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
- The Economist (December 30 2008).
- Charlie Rose Show (January 6 2009).
- VNUnet.com (November 11 2008).
- http://www.marketwatch.com/story/leo-apotheker-named-ceo-and-president-of-hp-2010-09-30?reflink=MW_news_stmp
- Jordan Robertson and Rachel Metz (2010-08-06). "HP CEO Mark Hurd Resigns After Sexual-Harassment Probe". Huffington Post.
- "HPQ stock since naming Leo Apotheker CEO".
- "HP names Meg Whitman as CEO".
- New Hewlett-Packard chief Meg Whitman gets $1 salary, Leo Apotheker gets $13m, The Australian, sept. 30 2011
- ^ http://gigaom.com/2012/03/01/is-leo-apotheker-launching-a-comeback/
- http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3965498,00.html
External links
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| Preceded byMark Hurd | Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard 2010–2011 |
Succeeded byMeg Whitman |
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