Mark Rigolle has stepped down as chief financial officer of SES to take over as CEO at satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks. Rigolle will replace Greg Clarke, who is stepping down for personal reasons.
Rigolle, who has been CFO of SES since…
Mark Rigolle has stepped down as chief financial officer of SES to take over as CEO at satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks. Rigolle will replace Greg Clarke, who is stepping down for personal reasons.
Rigolle, who has been CFO of SES since August 2004, will take up his new position with immediate effect. Prior to joining SES, Rigolle held a number of executive positions at Belgian telecoms incumbent Belgacom, where he was instrumental in the company’s IPO on the Euronext in early 2004.
Commenting on the departure, Romain Bausch, president and CEO of SES, said: “Mark Rigolle has played an important role in SES’ development over the last five years. Although we are sorry he is leaving us, we are delighted that he has chosen to continue his career development at O3b, a company in which SES holds a strategic interest. This move underscores the importance SES attaches to the success of O3b, and Mark will undoubtedly create shareholder value there as he has done at SES. We wish him well.”
UK telecoms industry veteran Clarke had only been appointed chief executive of O3B in November of last year replacing the company’s founder Greg Wyler. O3b said that the reason behind his departure is due to a serious knee injury that would have prevented him from undertaking the amount of travelling required at this stage of O3b’s development. However, Clarke, who had previously been the CEO at UK telco Cable & Wireless and ran its global cellular business, is to remain on the company’s board of directors.
O3b’s chairman John Dick said: “I am delighted that Mark is joining the company. His appointment highlights our strong ties with SES as we look to accelerate our operations in 2010. At the same time, I would like to thank Greg Clarke for his work on behalf of the company during his time as CEO.”
Browne returns to satellite sector
SES has moved quickly to replace Rigolle, bringing in industry veteran Andrew Browne. He will take up his position at SES at the beginning of April.
Browne was formerly the chief financial officer of Intelsat from 1995 to 1998. During his time there he was instrumental in building up the foundation for a new company which later became New Skies Satellites. He then served as CFO of that company from 1998 to 2008, including during the incorporation into the SES group when it was purchased in 2006 from private equity owners.
Since then, Browne has served in advisory as well as non-executive directorship roles in a variety of companies.
Romain Bausch said: “Andrew’s extensive industry experience, and existing knowledge of our company, makes him a valuable addition to SES’ leadership team. I look forward to working with him and with our entire finance team to further grow our business.”
