- Niek Jan van Damme leaving Deutsche Telekom
- Dirk Wössner to succeed as new Member of Board of Management for Germany
Niek Jan van Damme, Member of the Board of Management at Deutsche Telekom AG responsible for Germany, is leaving the company. Following a transition and onboarding period in the fourth quarter of this year, his successor Dr. Dirk Wössner will take on the position as of January 1, 2018.
Niek Jan van Damme: "After intensive talks with our CEO Tim Höttges and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Ulrich Lehner, I have decided to resign from my current position as of the end of the year. It's a bit earlier than I had originally intended, but it's a good fit with my personal life planning and the best way to ensure a seamless transition – similar to the situation with René Obermann and Tim Höttges four years ago."
The Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Ulrich Lehner, thanked Niek Jan van Damme for his commitment and for the successful work over nine years as a member of the Deutsche Telekom Board of Management: "A window of opportunity had opened up for Dirk Wössner otherwise he would have been tied for a longer period."
Timotheus Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom: "I am looking forward to working with Dirk Wössner and to his return. He knows this company better than nearly anyone else. In the recent years he spent outside the Deutsche Telekom Group, he was able to gather valuable experience, which he will be able to contribute to his work at Deutsche Telekom starting next year. He was responsible for consumer business at Rogers Communications, the Canadian market leader, for example, and successfully steered it back to a course of growth. Rogers has a long tradition as an innovation leader in North America: under Dirk Wössner's leadership, Rogers was the first company to offer its customers 4K television and comprehensive broadband coverage with 1 Gbit/s. I want to thank Niek Jan van Damme profusely for his nearly 15 years of service. He contributed a great deal to Deutsche Telekom over this time: The list is extensive, but I wish to particularly emphasize the consolidation of fixed-network and mobile business in a single entity, the build-out and upgrade of our networks, and the significant improvement in service quality at Deutsche Telekom. The company and I owe him a great deal."
Niek Jan van Damme: "I would like to thank all the employees, my colleagues on the Board of Management, and the employee representatives – and Tim Höttges in particular – for the excellent collaboration over 15 exciting years. I believe we have all achieved a great deal together. Dirk Wössner is taking on a well-kept organization. The company is growing – I wish him all the best and am firmly convinced that he will continue on this successful path."
Dirk Wössner: "I am looking forward to this new challenge and wish to thank everyone for the trust they are placing in me. Niek Jan van Damme has my special gratitude for his willingness to help me shape the transition together."
Niek Jan van Damme, born in 1961, has been a member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom AG since March 2009, responsible for fixed-line and mobile communications in Germany. Additionally, he is Chairman of the Managing Board of Telekom Deutschland GmbH as of April 2010.
From January 2004 to 2009, Niek Jan van Damme was Chairman of the Managing Board of T-Mobile Netherlands where his successes included the integration of the mobile communications and fixed-network activities of Orange Netherlands into T-Mobile Netherlands (October 2007). In that position, he represented one of the core mobile communications markets on the Executive Committee of the T-Mobile International group.
Niek Jan van Damme studied Economics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He started his career with Procter & Gamble in 1986 before joining the Dutch retailer Ahold in 1993. Niek Jan van Damme was a Managing Partner at Floor Heijn Retail from 1997 until he joined Ben Nederland, later T-Mobile Netherlands, as Director for Marketing Communications in June 1999.
Dirk Wössner, born in 1969, has been responsible for consumer business at Rogers Communications since April 2015. Prior to that, he had held a variety of management positions at Deutsche Telekom since 2002, most recently Director of Sales for business and consumer customers in Germany. After earning his PhD in Chemistry, Dirk Wössner began his professional career at the McKinsey consulting firm.
About Deutsche Telekom: Deutsche telekom Companyprofile
