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Léo Apotheker

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Léo Apotheker
Born (1953-09-18) 18 September 1953 (age 70)
Aachen, Germany
NationalityGerman
EducationHebrew University
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCEO, Hewlett-Packard, SAP AG

Léo Apotheker (born September 18, 1953, in Aachen, Germany) is the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, having served in that position from November 2010 to 22nd September 2011,[1] and the former CEO of SAP AG, having served in that position from April 2008 to February 2010. He joined the SAP AG executive board in 2002 and was promoted to co-CEO of the company in April 2008 to ensure a smooth handover from his predecessor, Henning Kagermann, when the latter's contract with the company expired. The succession plan was communicated in the business media early in 2008, including Forbes magazine.[2] The transition received praise as an example of SAP's corporate culture, "a seemingly contradictory mix of internal consensus and competition".[3]

Early life and career

Apotheker's parents were Polish Jews who fled to the Russo-Chinese border after the Nazis invaded Poland at the outbreak of World War II.[4] After the war, they settled in Aachen, Germany, where Léo Apotheker was born on September 18, 1953. He later moved to Antwerp, Belgium.[4]

In high school, Apotheker organized a student strike, and had two of his teeth knocked out by a policeman on horseback in the melee that followed.[5] At the age of 18 he moved to Israel where he studied economics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.[5] Prior to joining SAP in 1988, Apotheker held several financial and operations positions at European companies.[5]

Apotheker is fluent in five languages—German, Dutch, French, English and Hebrew.[5]

SAP

Apotheker took an early opportunity to set out his vision for the IT industry, and explained enterprise software in layman's terms (likening it to the human nervous system), in an interview with prominent American journalist Charlie Rose.[6] He also articulated SAP's commitment to sustainability.[7]

Before his appointment as SAP's co-CEO, Apotheker was deputy CEO from 2007 to 2008, member of the SAP AG executive board and president of global customer solutions and operations from 2002 to 2007, and president of SAP EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa sales region) from 1999 to 2002. He was CEO and founder of SAP France and SAP Belgium (from 1995 to 1997) and president of SAP's South West Europe region (from 1997 to 1999).

During his career, Apotheker has also held senior positions with a variety of companies in the IT industry. He sits on the supervisory boards of AXA and Schneider Electric SA.

Apotheker's appointment to lead SAP was the second occasion, after 1997 Ron Sommer's appointment as CEO of Deutsche Telekom, that a large German company was run by a Jewish executive whose parents escaped the Holocaust. When the Nazis invaded Poland, Apotheker's parents fled all the way to the Russo-Chinese border. After the war they settled in Aachen, near Belgium. Léo Apotheker was born there in 1953, and later moved to Antwerp. “If SAP had a pre-war history, I would never have joined the company,” he told The Economist.[8]

In a ceremony in Paris on December 5, 2007, Léo Apotheker was honored with the French Légion d'honneur in recognition of his business leadership and contribution to the French economy. As the CEO and founder of SAP France and SAP Belgium, and later as president of SAP EMEA, Apotheker played a key role in increasing competitive capabilities and innovation for French industries.

On February 7, 2010, the SAP supervisory board reached an agreement with Apotheker not to extend his contract as a member of the SAP executive board. With this decision, he stepped down as CEO and resigned from SAP.

Hewlett-Packard

On September 30, 2010, the Board of Directors of Hewlett-Packard announced the election of Apotheker as the company's Chief Executive Officer and President, effective November 1.[9] He succeeded Cathie Lesjak, who served as the company's interim CEO since August 6, following the abrupt departure of former CEO Mark Hurd. Hurd had been forced to resign after an internal investigation into a sexual harassment claim uncovered expense-account irregularities.[10]

During Apotheker's tenure at HP the stock dropped about 40%. It dropped nearly 25% on August 19th, after it was announced that HP was discontinuing its webOS device business (mobile phones and tablet computers), acquiring British software firm Autonomy and would possibly sell its consumer PC division.[11]

On September 22, 2011, the HP board of directors replaced Apotheker as CEO with fellow board member and ex-CEO of eBay, Meg Whitman.[12] Though Apotheker served less than 11 months as CEO, he received over US$13 million in compensation: a severance payment of $7.2 million, shares worth $3.56 million and a performance bonus of $2.4 million.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Hewlett-Packard replaces Leo Apotheker with Meg Whitman". BBC News. 09-22-2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "SAP names Leo Apotheker as co-CEO". Forbes Magazine. 2008-04-02. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
  3. ^ "The Other Transition". Vol. 390, no. 8612. The Economist. 2009-01-03. p. 49. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
  4. ^ a b L.S. and M.G. (2010-10-01). "The Léo Way". The Economist. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d Aaron Ricadela (2010-10-01). "Hewlett-Packard Names Leo Apotheker CEO". Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  6. ^ Charlie Rose Show (January 6 2009).
  7. ^ VNUnet.com (November 11 2008).
  8. ^ The Economist (December 30 2008).
  9. ^ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/leo-apotheker-named-ceo-and-president-of-hp-2010-09-30?reflink=MW_news_stmp
  10. ^ Jordan Robertson and Rachel Metz (2010-08-06). "HP CEO Mark Hurd Resigns After Sexual-Harassment Probe". Huffington Post.
  11. ^ "HPQ stock since naming Leo Apotheker CEO".
  12. ^ "HP names Meg Whitman as CEO".
  13. ^ New Hewlett-Packard chief Meg Whitman gets $1 salary, Leo Apotheker gets $13m, The Australian, sept. 30 2011
Business positions
Preceded by Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard
2010–2011 		Succeeded by
President of Hewlett-Packard
2010–2011

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