GEC NEWS WIREEricsson has revealed that its CFO Jan Frykhammar will act as the temporary CEO of Ericsson after the current CEO Hans Vestberg was fired on account of poor stock market performance, growth in competition and investigations on corrupt business practices in key markets.
Vestberg was a 25year veteran of Ericsson and was fired after a collective decision by the Board of Directors. In June the company announced plans to cut up to 25,000 jobs, some 20% of its workforce, and following poor Q2 2016 results released earlier this month, the company announced it was seeking further cuts to the operational expenditure of $1 billion, including reduced investment in R&D and a corporate restructure.
A statement from the company states that the collective decision of the board of directors was taken as a result of the opinions of the members that it was time for a new leader to drive the next phase in Ericsson’s development.
Jan Frykhammar will act as a temporary CEO until a replacement is found. He is on the Board of Directors at both the Swedish International Chamber of Commerce and Attendo. Since joining Ericsson in 1991, Frykhammar has held various positions in finance and business control. Before accepting the CEO role, Frykhammar was Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Group Function Finance since 2009. Between 2008 and becoming CFO, he was Head of Business Unit Global Services.
