Nokia's new boss is Microsoft man
Big changes promised
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Nokia has brought in Microsoft's Stephen Elop to replace its CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, who leaves the company with little more than €4.6m in severance pay and 100,000 Nokia shares.
Nokia desperately needs a new head, and with annual love-in Nokia World happening next week the timing is good. Stephen Elop has been president of Microsoft's business division since 2008, prior to which he was with Adobe. He was CEO of Macromedia when it was snapped up in 2005. At Nokia he's clearly expected to shake things up:
"His strong software background and proven record in change management will be valuable assets as we press harder to complete the transformation of the company," says the canned statement.
Elop will also be the first non-Finnish boss for the company.
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has been with Nokia for 30 years, but is already off the board and will step down as CEO on 20 September. He remains on the board of Nokia Siemens Networks.
It was only last month that he was robustly denying "rumours" that he was to lose his job.
The markets seemed happy at the news, with Nokia's shares up 5.8 per cent according to the FT, but that's as likely to be relief that a decision has been made as any endorsement of that decision. ®
