Fujitsu Technology Solutions loses CEO

Anyone seen him?

By Chris Mellor, 8th July 2010

A bald statement from Fujitsu Technology Solutions (FTS) says president and CEO Kai Flore is no longer in post. A search for a new President & CEO is already underway and Richard Cristou is keeping the seat warm until the new CEO is found.

Flore became FTS CEO on November 3rd, 2008, when Fujitsu bought out the Siemens interest in Fujitsu Siemens Computer (FSC) , after being appointed chief strategy officer in 2007. Prior to that he was the FSC CFO. One source says he has now been fired.

Now Christou is no bagman from below. He is a, wait for it, Corporate Senior Executive Vice President of Fujitsu Limited, and responsible for the group’s business in all markets outside Japan; a direct report to God in other words. He was a Corporate SVP and head of the EMEA operations of Fujitsu from March 2007 to June 2008 when he ascended the ladder to become a Corporate Senior Exec VP.

Flore resigned or was ejected on or just before June 24. Christou then took on the role of Executive Chairman at FTS, having been the chairman since March 2007. It looks like he fired Flore.

Earlier in June there was another big exec deckchair move at Fujitsu, with Tony Doye joining from Unisys to become president and CEO of Fujitsu America. Christou provide a laudatory quote in the announcement release: "Fujitsu is pleased to welcome Tony Doye to the helm at Fujitsu America. Tony comes to us with proven expertise in creating and delivering solutions that improve client service levels and increase innovation. His deep experience in information and communications technology services will usher in a new phase of growth as Fujitsu expands in North America."

In March 2009 Farhat Ali was the CEO for Fujitsu America and it appears he was not the right man to "improve client service levels and increase innovation [and] usher in a new phase of growth." Out he went.

Is one person responsible for these CEO-level changes and is that Richard Christou, or does the responsibility lie higher still? What prompted them?

We note that on April 1st, 2010 Masami Yamamoto, who had been a corporate senior vice president and president of Fujitsu's Systems Products Business group, became president of the entire Fujitsu conglomerate, with a focus on getting the group back to profitability.

So we have a new overall Fujitsu group boss taking charge in April this year with the profitability focus. In June Fujitsu America gets a new CEO and there is talk of a "new phase of growth," while also in June the FTS CEO seems to have been dismissed.

The thread that's emerging here is one of Fujitsu's new boss insisting that subsidiaries in America and Europe deliver much more growth, and two exec heads have been put on the block and chopped off to show he means business. FTS was not immediately able to answer any questions on the matter. ®

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