StarHub’s CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos will retire after just two years at the helm, with effect from Oct 31, 2020, announced the company on Jul 27.
In a hastily-arranged briefing with the media, Kaliaropoulos, 61, cites an unforeseen medical emergency within his family for his exit from the mainboard-listed telecommunications company.
“Unforeseen serious health related matters of a close family member have necessitated my urgent return to Sydney, to be closer to my family during this critical period,” he explains.
“This news came completely unexpectedly and has changed my world 180 degrees,” says Kaliaropoulos. “But we have a great team of people and we built a very solid leadership team to keep driving the business forward. I will support this [Board Executive Committee] for the next three months until the search for a new CEO is concluded.”
Peter will serve as a co-opted member on StarHub’s Board Executive Committee until the new CEO is hired. “The StarHub Board will establish an interim Board Executive Committee (Board ExCo) to provide close support to the management leadership team during the CEO search and oversee the smooth transition for the new CEO,” says the company in a press release.
Prior to his lead role at StarHub, Kaliaropoulos was CEO at Zain Saudi Arabia, a telecommunications services company based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In April 2000, Kaliaropoulos was a key member of the StarHub senior executive team that launched company operations in the Singapore market.
During his two years as StarHub’s CEO, he helped the telco secure a 5G licence via a partnership, delivered stellar Customer Satisfaction and Net Promoter Score results for Mobile and TV, and accelerated the IT and Digital transformation through a partnership with PCCW Solutions, says StarHub’s chairman Terry Clontz, himself a former StarHub CEO.
On March 11, the company announced that it is acquiring 88.3% of Strateq, a Malaysia-based IT company, for $82.1 million. The big move was characteristic of Kaliaropoulos, who has a track record of making acquisitions and restructuring companies.
Popularly known as Peter K, he was hired to lead StarHub’s three-year-long transformation programme that began in late 2018, with cost savings of some $210 million targeted.
“We are diversifying into adjacent segments, we are diversifying into new geographies. That’s got risks, and that’s got rewards,” said Kaliaropoulos then in an interview with The Edge Singapore.
“I am extremely fortunate to have been a member of the StarHub team twice in my career,” says Kaliaropoulos.
“Our strategic transformation is well underway but not complete. Following almost 40 years in the industry across multiple countries, it is also the right moment in my career to step down from full-time executive roles,” he says.
Shares in StarHub Ltd closed at $1.29 on Jul 27.
