News
End of an era at Spanish telco as longtime CEO passes the baton to his chief operations officer.
Telefonica on Tuesday announced that long-serving leader César Alierta is to leave his post to be replaced by chief operating officer José María Álvarez-Pallete.
Alierta’s tenure as the Spanish incumbent’s chief executive – his official title is executive chairman – is coming to an end after almost 16 years; he joined the company and took on the role in July 2000.
He will formally propose Álvarez-Pallete as his successor at a board meeting on 8 April.
Álvarez-Pallete has been earmarked for the top job since he was appointed chief operating officer by Alierta in 2012.
He has held a variety of senior positions at Telefonica since joining the company 17 years ago as chief financial officer of Telefónica Internacional. His later roles included that of group CFO, as well as executive chairman of both Telefonica Europe and Telefonica Latinoamerica.
"With his credentials and experience managing the day-to-day of all operations from his position as COO of the company, Alierta considers Álvarez-Pallete as the best prepared executive to make a smooth transition and position Telefónica…at the forefront of the digital sector," Telefonica said, in a statement.
Alierta will remain on Telefonica’s board of directors and will retain his position as executive chairman of Fundación Telefónica, the group’s CSR arm.
Álvarez-Pallete will also join the telco’s board.
