Nokia’s chairman steps down after earnings shock
12:27 pm EST, Tuesday, December 3, 2019
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Risto Siilasmaa, chairman of Nokia, speaks during a panel session at the Slush startups event in Helsinki, Finland, on Nov. 30, 2016.
Risto Siilasmaa, chairman of Nokia, speaks during a panel session at the Slush startups event in Helsinki, Finland, on Nov. 30, 2016.
Photo: Bloomberg Photo By Tomi Setala.
Risto Siilasmaa, chairman of Nokia, speaks during a panel session at the Slush startups event in Helsinki, Finland, on Nov. 30, 2016.
Risto Siilasmaa, chairman of Nokia, speaks during a panel session at the Slush startups event in Helsinki, Finland, on Nov. 30, 2016.
Photo: Bloomberg Photo By Tomi Setala.
Nokia chairman Risto Siilasmaa will step down after eight years in the role, the second high-profile figure to leave the network equipment maker since an October profit warning.
He will be replaced in April 2020 by Sari Baldauf, a former head of its networks division, the company said in a statement. Nokia shares rose as much as 3.2% in Helsinki.
Siilasmaa founded computer security company F-Secure and joined Nokia's board in 2008, when Apple's iPhone was starting to eat away at Nokia's dominance in mobile handsets.
He pushed the Finnish company to beef up its network equipment activities, taking over temporarily as chief executive before appointing Rajeev Suri to succeed him permanently in 2014. A string of deals included the sale of the ailing mobile phone business to Microsoft Corp. in 2013 and the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent in 2016.
Suri has come under growing pressure this year as Nokia struggles with the shift to fifth-generation wireless networks. It cut its profit outlook and suspended the dividend in October, warning that heavy spending to catch up with competitors in 5G would delay an earnings boost from the technology.
Nokia shares have lost more than a third of their value this year.
"We are in the midst of another transition now, with the historic move to 5G," said Siilasmaa, 53. "While we know that Nokia is facing some short-term challenges as the technology matures, I am confident that we have the right actions underway to address those issues."
Baldauf, 64, was executive vice president and general manager of Nokia's networks business from 1998 to 2005, and part of former Chairman Jorma Ollila's "dream team" at a time when Nokia was, briefly, Europe's biggest company.
Baldauf's appointment is subject to her re-election to the board at a shareholder meeting planned on April 8, Nokia said.
The company said last month that Chief Operating Officer Joerg Erlemeier will step down after it decided to discontinue the role.
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