Sir John Bond, the chairman of Vodafone Group plc, is to retire from the Board at the Company's AGM in July. The company says he’ll be succeeded as chairman by Gerard Kleisterlee, currently President/CEO and Chairman of Koninklijke Philips Electronics. Mr Kleisterlee retires from Philips on 31st March 2011 and will be appointed as a non-executive director of Vodafone on the following day.
Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive of Vodafone, said “On behalf of the Board and everyone at Vodafone I would like to pay tribute to Sir John for his huge contribution to the Company throughout his tenure as Chairman. We have been fortunate to have benefited from his leadership, experience and wise counsel in a time of evolution for Vodafone. I personally am very grateful to him for his constant support and personal advice since becoming CEO, during a phase of extraordinary economic and industry changes.”
Gerard Kleisterlee has spent his entire career at Philips since joining in 1974, He’s been President and CEO for the past ten years.