Xavier Pichon appointed CEO of Orange Belgium

The Board of Directors of Orange Belgium has decided to appoint Xavier Pichon to the position of CEO of Orange Belgium as from September 1st, 2020.

Xavier Pichon has 20 years’ experience as an ExCom member in large corporations. He started his career in 1990 as Head of Finance of Bouygues’ affiliates, followed by an Audit & Consulting position at Calan Ramolino/Salustro Reydel before joining Orange in 1998 where he took up various positions, such as Chief Financial Officer of Orange France and Group Head of Investor Relations. His last role was Deputy CEO at Orange France, leading Finance, Strategy, Transformation and Development. There, he co-led one of the most successful transformations of an incumbent telco to date. He was President and Board member of different Orange affiliates. He joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in October 2018 in Paris, then Sydney in Australia and was a core member of the TMT Practice focusing globally on large scale transformations. Xavier is recognized for his strong management skills, his deep business strategic expertise and extensive experience in investor and stakeholder relations.

Johan Deschuyffeleer, President of the Board of Directors of Orange Belgium declared: « We are very happy to welcome Xavier Pichon as our new CEO. With his 20 years of experience in telco and a strong focus on finance, advanced tech and transformation, Xavier has an excellent understanding of the telecom sector and its operating model. Going through a digital transformation in Belgium, Xavier will bring his whole experience at the top level of the Group to successfully lead Orange Belgium towards a more digital and agile operator that keeps its customers in the center of its strategy.”

Commenting on the announcement, Ramon Fernandez, Deputy CEO of Orange, Finance, Performance and Europe Director, said: “Xavier’s extensive expertise and skills will be key to continuing the successful path Orange Belgium had under the leadership of Michaël Trabbia, who has just been appointed Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at the Orange Group. I would like to thank again Michael for his key contribution to Orange Belgium’s growth, defined notably by its ‘Bold challenger’ strategy; and welcome Xavier in our team.”

After his nomination, Xavier Pichon stated: «It is a great honor to take over from Michaël Trabbia, whose work, with the Executive Committee, is an example of a particularly successful transformation of a challenging operator in a tensed and highly competitive market. This success has enabled Orange Belgium to carry out its essential missions of connectivity and service during the unprecedented crisis we are currently experiencing. I would like to thank the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Johan Deschuyffeleer, the members of the Board of Directors, Stéphane Richard, Gervais Pellissier and Ramon Fernandez for their confidence in me. Our priority, with the support of the Board of Directors and Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière, will be to pursue this “Bold Challenger” strategy, which has been very successful and has proven to be effective for years now”.

Xavier Pichon is 53 years old, French and graduated of ‘Ecole de la Chambre de Commerce et de l’Industrie de Paris’. He is married and father of 5 children.