Starhub CEO Retiring & a Global Search for a New CEO is Ongoing

StarHub is Singapore’s second-largest telecommunications company. After all, before all the new telco companies came about, there was only StarHub, SingTel, and M1 that dominated the market.

But did you know the man who transformed Starhub back in 2018 due to challenges faced in the industry is now stepping down from his position as chief executive officer (CEO)?

Starhub CEO Retiring & a Global Search for a New CEO is Ongoing

CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos will be retiring from his position on 31 October due to family reasons.

A statement released by StarHub revealed that Mr Kaliaropoulos will be heading back to Sydney, Australia after his retirement to spend time with his family due to “unforeseen serious health-related matters of a close family member”.

The statement also said that a global search for a new CEO is ongoing.

Peter Kaliaropoulos

Mr Kaliaropoulos’ journey at StarHub started when he was the senior vice-president of commercial operations back in 1999.

He then took on various C-level roles in New Zealand, Australia, and the Middle East.

In July 2018, he took on the position of CEO and initiated the transformation of the company after facing many challenges like technological disruptions and intense competition.

We saw more telco companies being set up and StarHub was on the verge of losing all their customers if they didn’t try to remain competitive.

When interviewed about his views on working in the telco industry for so long, Mr Kaliaropoulos said, “I enjoy every day that I work for StarHub, trying to transform, trying to be more competitive, more customer-focused, trying to grow the business, trying to improve the margins.”

Unforeseen Circumstances

However, he was informed that a close family member had unexpectedly fallen sick.

He said, “(It) just has changed the world 180 degrees. And of course, when something like this happens to someone extremely close… you need to rethink priorities in life.”

He also assured the media that there is no other reason as to why he is leaving the company.

“In case there’s any speculation, it’s not. It’s just such a very personal matter, completely unexpected,” he preempted.

He has also urged the media to keep the specific details of his family matters private.

Future Plans

From now until his retirement, he will be serving as a member of the executive committee that has been set up to find the next CEO. Once the next CEO is hired, he will step down.

But there’s nothing to worry about.

He assured the public that StarHub is “in good hands” as the executive committee comprises “very experienced professionals” who will hopefully continue the transformation drive that he initiated.

In response to whether or not a Singaporean would be selected as the next CEO, Mr Kaliaropoulos said that the next CEO would be someone in the company that handles either the domestic or international market. This has always been the case for StarHub and he believes that the selection this time would be done in a similar manner.

He said, “If the right person is found from the Singaporean market, certainly, he or she will be given the opportunity but the selection process has always been spread wide to try and find the best possible candidate.”

Basically, yes, there’s a chance that a Singaporean could be selected, but StarHub usually tries to do a global search just to ensure that the best candidate is given the position of CEO.

But, Mr Kaliaropoulos emphasised that he isn’t speaking on behalf of the selection committee, so I guess we’ll find out once they find a CEO if that person is Singaporean or not.