KPN appoints CEO, expands Board

Royal KPN appointed Joost Farwerck (54) as its next CEO and Chairman of the Board of Management.

Farwerck studied Law at the University of Amsterdam and started working at KPN in 1994 and held senior management positions in various divisions. He currently serves as interim Chairman of the Board of Management, has been a member of the Board of Management since 2013 and is currently Chief Operating Officer (COO), a role he has fulfilled since 2014.

KPN stated that the base salary of Farwerck in his role as CEO will amount to EUR 875,000 per year.

"It is with pleasure that I assume the role of CEO of this great company which focuses on offering high speed connections to consumers, businesses and Dutch society. KPN is a company with a realistic strategy in place to perform in the competitive Dutch market. My primary focus will be to deliver on that strategy and explore how we can accelerate the execution even more to deliver organic sustainable growth. We have a great team and a lot of dedicated people in the company. I am eager to work with all of them to execute on that strategy," stated Farwerck.

KPN also appointed Chris Figee (47) as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as of 1 February 2020. Chris Figee, currently CFO at ASR Netherlands, succeeds Jan Kees de Jager who, after more than five years as CFO of KPN, is stepping down from his role and leaving KPN.

Finally, KPN also expanded its Board of Management to include Jean-Pascal Van Overbeke, Chief Consumer Market; Marieke Snoep, Chief Business Market; Babak Fouladi, Chief Technology and Digital Officer; and Hilde Garssen, Chief People Officer.