Höttges’s current contract runs until the end of 2023, but he and the board agreed that he will be available to Deutsche Telekom for another five years. He has already been CEO for eight years.
Ulrich Lehner, chairman of the supervisory board, said yesterday: “I am very pleased that we will be able to retain Tim Höttges at Deutsche Telekom for longer than previously planned. Like no other, he stands for the transformation and success of recent years.”
At the same time, the board agreed that Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL group, will be its new chairman from 7 April 2022, when Lehner steps down for reasons of age.
Lehner, who is 75, has chaired the board since 2008. Höttges will be 60 in September 2022.
Lehner said: “Over the past almost eight years, Tim Höttges – together with his team – has modernised Deutsche Telekom and consistently focused it on a course of growth and innovation. In the process, they have always exceeded their targets. With skill, tenacity and assertiveness, Tim Höttges has made Deutsche Telekom the leading telecommunications company in Europe.”
Höttges said: “I really enjoy my work at Deutsche Telekom. It’s great that I can continue it beyond 2023. My curiosity, my willingness to change and my will to transform are unbroken.”
Lehner, who referred to Höttges as “Mr Magenta”, after Deutsche Telekom’s house colours, said: “We are delighted to be able to keep our front man. [Höttges] is held in high regard both inside and outside the company. His main task will be to systematically implement Deutsche Telekom’s strategy over the next five years and further develop the company into the leading digital telecommunications company.”
Höttges added: “We have important tasks ahead of us, and I approach the next five years with corresponding humility and respect. We know what we must do. Our goal is clearly formulated: Having made Telekom the leading European telecommunications company, we now want to become the leading digital telecommunications company as well.”
Lehner said his own successor, Appel, is “a leader who is one of the most experienced managers in Germany. He has a whole range of skills that ideally qualify him for his new role.”
