Frans van Houten, who was CEO of Philips for twelve years, will leave the Eindhoven company next month as CEO. He will be replaced by Roy Jakobs, who has also been with the company for some time.
At Philips, they are grateful to Van Houten for his efforts. Feike Sijbesma, chairperson of the supervisory board, says. “On behalf of the entire supervisory board, I would like to thank Frans for his leadership over the past twelve years. Through his vision and execution, he has successfully led the company from a diverse industrial conglomerate to a company specifically focused on health technology”.
In his last period at Philips, Van Houten’s career was mainly characterised by the enormous recall of the sleep apnea devices. Foam used in the machines deteriorated slowly. This had potentially harmful consequences for the users of the machines, who might inhale foam particles as a result.
Bonus
The recall is costing the company a lot of money. Shareholders were therefore also outraged by the fact that Van Houten received a bonus from the company. The payment of that bonus was not reversed, despite 80% of the shareholders voting agianst.
New CEO
In that respect, Jakobs can start with a clean slate. Solving the problems with the sleep apnea devices is one of the top priorities of the new CEO Roy Jakobs, Philips reports.
Jakobs’ official start as CEO at the healthcare technology company is on October 15. At an extra shareholders’ meeting planned for the end of September, his appointment can be made official. Frans van Houten will remain involved with Philips in an advisory role until the end of April 2023.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Shanthi Ramani
