By Maisie Ramsay
Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg is leaving the telecommunications equipment maker for British oil giant BP, the company said Thursday.
Svanberg will be replaced by current Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Hans Vestberg.
"Hans Vestberg was early in his career at Ericsson identified as a person with outstanding leadership skills," Ericsson board chairman Michael Treschow said in a statement. "[He] will lead Ericsson in a phase where the transformation of telecom operators' networks and implementation of IP-based services are crucial in order to continue the company's successful creation of shareholder value."
Vestberg was appointed chief financial officer in 2007 after serving Ericsson for 18 years, during which he held various international managerial positions in China, Sweden, Chile, Brazil and the US.
Svanberg will retain his shares and remain on Ericsson’s board of directors after he steps down at the end of the year. Ericsson’s main owners, Investor and Industrivärden, want to see Svanberg remain on the board for the long-term.
Svanberg joined Ericsson in 2003, as the company was struggling with losses and restructuring. During the first five years of his tenure, Ericsson experienced a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent and generated $13.1 billion.
The news came just after the end of Ericsson’s two-day Business Innovation Forum, where the company said one of its primary missions was to broker services for application stores and mobile advertising on behalf of carriers.