The Orange Board of Directors officially chose Christel Heydemann, 47, to succeed Stéphane Richard as general manager of the group. According to a Press release broadcast on Friday, January 28, his taking office is scheduled for April 4, 2022.
Christel Heydemann had the support of the government
A brilliant journey. Christel Heydemann is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. She began her career in 1997 with the Boston Consulting Group. She then worked for Alcatel where she held various positions of responsibility, notably within the framework of the merger between Alcatel and Lucent. It’s in 2014 that she joins Schneider Electric as Director of Strategic Alliances. In 2017, she was appointed PPDG of Schneider Electric France then General Manager Europe Operations in May 2021.
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As specified in the press release, by appointing Christel Heydemann, the Orange Board of Directors “has chosen a personality with recognized skills in the world of telecoms and business transformation”. Stéphane Richard had to leave. CEO of Orange since 2011, he had recently been found guilty of complicity in embezzlement of public property in the controversial arbitration case rendered in 2008 between Bernard Tapie and Crédit Lyonnais.
Very happy with the confidence granted by the board of directors to lead the group @orange, alongside the women and men who make up the company and whom I can’t wait to meet! I kindly think of @srichard who marked the history of the company https://t.co/EO8I3oSeiJ
—Christel Heydemann (@Cheydema) January 28, 2022
Before her appointment, Christel Heydemann had even received government support. Indeed, the Ministry of the Economy had publicly displayed its support at the beginning of January, indicating that it preferred “to the nomination of a woman among the three candidates in the running”. The State is the main shareholder of the Orange group with a 23% stake… Slight change in the functioning of the management of the Group, the post of chairman will be dissociated from that of general manager. Moreover, the future president has not yet been appointed.
A woman at the head of a CAC 40 company
Regarding her appointment, Christel Heydemann said that in “As a director of the Orange Group for nearly five years, I was able to understand the technological challenges facing our company”. Aware that the challenges ahead are major, she says she wants to fully invest herself at the head of Orange. After seven years with Schneider Electric in “Building a more sustainable world through technological innovation”, Christel Heydemann knows that digital will be at the heart of all the transformations of our society.
When she took office, the new CEO of Orange will be the second woman to lead a CAC 40 company, alongside Catherine MacGregor, the current CEO of Engie. On July 1, Estelle Brachlianoff, future CEO of Veolia, will join this very closed circle. Christel Heydemann is also president of Gimélec (a group of companies in the French digital electronics sector) and a member of the National Council for Industry. In June 2021, she also participated in a government mission on the development of parental leave and the reconciliation of professional and family time.