A last-minute guest in pole position to take the lead of Orange – Univers Freebox

Among the potential candidates to replace Stéphane Richard as Managing Director of the incumbent operator, an outsider has been noticed by the executive.

The telecom saga of the month of January is of course the succession organization of the CEO of Orange. Following his conviction in the Bernard Tapie affair, the boss must retire at the end of the month and if the board of directors reduced to three the list of candidates for the post of Managing Director, one of them stood out with the State according to several sources of BFMTV.

This is indeed Frank Boulben, current head of consumer sales optimization at the American operator Verizon, who has already cut his teeth at Orange and Vivendi. If Bruno Le Maire, current Minister of the Economy wants to favor a woman for the post if the skills are equal according to those around him, “Frank Boulben corresponds to our desire to choose a new and more business-oriented profile”Other sources explain to Bercy. If his proposals made “strong impression“, The Ministry of the Economy has some reservations about its desire to shake up Orange:“It’s good to want to change things but there is also a social context to take into account”

Another member of the government close to Emmanuel Macron affirms that Frank Boulben also has his favors, without opposing Christel Heydemann, current member of the board of directors of the operator. The secretary general of the Elysee is due to meet the candidates soon, or at least before the operator’s board of directors scheduled for January 24. Once the CEO has been appointed, however, a new chairman of the board remains to be found.