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BT names Verwaayen CEO
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December 12, 2001: 3:19 a.m. ET
UK's No. 2 phone operator appoints Lucent Vice Chairman Verwayyen as CEO
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LONDON (CNN) - BT Group, Britain's second-largest phone company, has appointed Ben Verwaayen as chief executive after Peter Bonfield quit in October.
Verwaayen, 49, who will take up his role on February 1 with a salary of £700,000 ($1 million), is currently vice chairman of U.S. telecoms equipment maker Lucent Technologies (LU: down $0.04 to $7.77, Research, Estimates).
Alex Scott of 7 Investment Management told CNN Verwaayen was "not widely known" but the "experience is there" and it was up to BT to raise his profile in the City, London's financial sector.
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New BT CEO Verwaayen | |
"BT has been through a lot of change with the demerger of its mobile phone unit. What is left is the rump low-growth business," Scott said. "His experience at KPN (the Dutch telecom operator) is crucial."
BT, formerly know as British Telecommunications, has lost three key executives over the last 7 months as the company struggled to reign in a mountain of debt.
Verwaayen, a Dutchman, said he plans to keep his feet on the ground in his new post, promising a clear strategy and a focus on bill-payers.
"People will know what we are doing and our customers will know they come first," he told Reuters.
He is described in the Netherlands as a fast talker and a "people person" who prides himself on adapting quickly to changing circumstances.
Before joining Lucent in 1997 as executive vice president and then chief operating officer, Verwaayen was at KPN. As one of a three-man team, he helped oversee the company during a decade of transformation.
He served as managing director of its telecoms division and readied it to stand on its own feet.
In the 1970s, he was involved in Dutch politics. From 1975 to 1988, he worked for defence and technology firm ITT Industries in Europe and the United States.
BT's stock has fallen more than 40 percent over the year as it began to reduce crippling debts that stood at about £30 billion. The company has sold property and assets abroad to halve its debt by March next year.
The London-based company also plans to shed 13,000 jobs at its fixed-line business over a three year period to save about £850 million. 
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