Starhub Searched Globally for a New CEO & Eventually Found Someone from S’pore

On 27 July this year, Starhub announced that its CEO would be stepping down.

Peter Kaliaropoulos reportedly left his post at Singapore’s second biggest telco on 31 Oct for family reasons, according to TODAYonline. 

He said he’d be returning to Sydney, Australia, to be closer to his family due to “unforeseen serious health-related matters of a close family member”.

“(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 said.

The 61-year-old helmed the telecommunications company since July 2018, taking over when Starhub’s stocks plunged 42%.

After his announcement, Starhub set up an executive committee to support the management leadership team in their global search for a new CEO.

But after scouring the globe for five months, they’ve managed to find someone in their own backyard.

Starhub Searched Globally for a New CEO & Eventually Found Someone from S’pore

After a long global search, Starhub has finally appointed a new CEO.

48-year-old Nikhil Eapen will take up the position on 1 Jan next year, StarHub announced in a statement on Friday (18 Dec).

The Singaporean used to be with local data firm ST Telemedia, where he served as deputy CEO.

He was also president and group CEO of ST Telemedia’s Infrastructure Technology (InfraTech).

Before that, he spent nearly two decades as an investment banker at American financial services corporation Citigroup.

From 2008 to 2015, Eapen was managing director and head of Asia Pacific for technology, media, and telecommunications corporate and investment banking at Citigroup, where he led capital markets and mergers and acquisitions transactions in China, India, Southeast Asia and the United States.

The 48-year-old, who graduated from University College London with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Economics, is married with three children.

Strong Leadership & Decades of Experience 

The company said it selected Eapen for his strong leadership, senior executive experience in telco and adjacent industries, and strong track record of successful corporate transformation.

StarHub chairman Terry Clontz said the appointment was a result of a “rigorous and extensive global executive search.”

“My fellow Directors and I are confident that Nikhil is well qualified to lead StarHub in managing the challenges that operators face today, and to pursue new opportunities,” he said.

“We are delighted to welcome Nikhil to the StarHub Group and look forward to working closely with him.”

Pressure has been building for Starhub and the other telco giants in recent years, with the emergence of mobile virtual network operators like Circles.Life and streaming services such as Netflix.

Featured Image: Starhub