Raphael Kübler, Chief Operating Officer at DT, will become a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director at BT, replacing fromer head of T-Systems, Adel Al-Saleh
A new representative from Deutsche Telekom (DT) is to join BT Group’s board of directors this week, as new CEO, Allison Kirkby, takes the helm of the UK operator.
Raphael Kübler, Chief Operating Officer at DT (pictured), will become a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director at BT, replacing DT’s Adel Al-Saleh who stepped down from BT’s board at the end of last year. As part of his responsibilities, Kübler has been appointed to the Nominations Committee.
Al-Saleh was CEO at T-Systems International, DT’s ITC services provider from 2018 but from February will be the CEO of satellite operator SES.
Arguably Kübler is a better fit for the UK operator. It is in the throes of transformation and has oversight of “overall strategic transformation” of the DT group where he has worked for almost three decades. During that time, he has held a number of senior roles.
During his five years in charge, BT’s outgoing CEO, Philip Jansen, saw BT’s share price halve as of the H1 earnings report last November.
The CEO of DT Group, Tim Höttges, said in an interview with the Financial Times [subscription needed] that his “biggest mistake” was accepting BT shares as payment for selling DT’s stake in ee in 2015.
The interview took place in April 2023. At that time the drop in BT’s share price had cost DT £4 billion on paper.
DT is BT’s second biggest shareholder, with 12%, behind Patrick Drahi’s Altice Group with 24.5%. Altice does not a board representative although another space will be available on the board after Jansen’s departure at the end of January.