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The group CEO's contract is extended to 2028, while the current head of Germany, Srini Gopalan, is to take up a new job as COO at T-Mobile US.
During Deutsche Telekom's Digital X event in September last year, Tim Höttges said he was often asked by journalists when he intends to retire. Although giving little away, the German telco's long-serving CEO hinted that he was expecting to spend more time on the golf course, improving his swing, than in the boardroom at some point in the future.
However, it seems that the 62-year-old Höttges, who has held the CEO role since January 2014, is not quite ready to swap his magenta-colored trainers and T-branded jackets for a new set of golf clubs. On Monday, Deutsche Telekom announced that the supervisory board has extended Höttges' contract until the end of 2028.
The move came ahead of schedule, given that the existing contract was not due to expire until the end of 2026 after being extended by five years in 2021. It also offers a vote of confidence in a CEO who has presided over a group that has become the world's most valuable telecoms brand, according to the latest annual Brand Finance Global 500 report.
In a statement, Frank Appel, chairman of the supervisory board of Deutsche Telekom, said Höttges "has made Deutsche Telekom the leading telecommunications company in the world. We are pleased that he has complied with our request to continue his successful work beyond the previous end of his contract."
Höttges emphasized that he still has the "strength to continue [his] work at Deutsche Telekom," at least for the coming four years. The group CEO clearly feels he has unfinished business at an operator that has grown its revenue from €63 billion (US$65.7 billion) in 2014 to €112 billion ($116.8 billion) in 2023.
Gopalan goes stateside
Much of the group's growth has been built on the back of T-Mobile US, which merged with Sprint and entered the fiber infrastructure and services market with a series of joint ventures and acquisitions under Höttges' watch.
During 2024, T-Mobile continued to generate the bulk of the group's revenue, reporting €18.3 billion ($19.1 billion) in the third quarter of the year compared to Germany's €6.5 billion ($6.8 billion) and Europe's €3.1 billion ($3.2 billion).
Perhaps as part of continuing efforts to tighten the links with its successful US business, on Monday DT also announced that Srini Gopalan has been appointed to the new role of chief operating officer at T‑Mobile US with effect from March 1, 2025, leading the self-styled Un-carrier's technology initiatives and go-to-market operations across both consumer and business groups.
Gopalan is currently CEO of Telekom Deutschland, and prior to that served as the regional head for DT Europe. He joined DT from Bharti Airtel in 2016, and before that completed stints at Vodafone and T‑Mobile UK (now merged into BT's EE).
Writing on LinkedIn, Gopalan noted that he has worked with T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert over the past four years as a member of T-Mobile's board of directors. "In the first weeks at #TMUS, I am eager to travel around and meet as many people as possible to even better understand this business and the 'secret sauce' behind it," he said.
Jon Freier, president of the consumer group; Callie Field, president of the business group; Nestor Cano, EVP transformation and chief information and digital officer; and Ulf Ewaldsson, president of technology, will all report directly to Gopalan upon his arrival.
According to Höttges, Gopalan is a "first-class choice for T-Mobile US. He has done an excellent job in his previous positions at Deutsche Telekom as head of Germany and previously Europe. He is an important addition to the management team of T-Mobile US, and, together with our US CEO Mike Sievert, will provide important impetus for the continued success of TMUS and Deutsche Telekom."
New boss for Germany
In Germany, meanwhile, Rodrigo Diehl, currently CEO at Magenta Telekom in Austria, is to take over Gopalan's soon-to-be-vacated position. DT's head of Europe, Dominique Leroy, will take on the CEO role in Austria until a successor to Diehl has been appointed.
Gopalan will certainly be a tough act to follow in Germany. Diehl will be taking over tasks including the ongoing deployment of the domestic operator's fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, and it remains to be seen if he will be as robust a defender of the former incumbent when faced with accusations it is abusing its market position.
Höttges described Diehl as a "strong leader from the Deutsche Telekom team for our German business. His successes in the time before Deutsche Telekom, but also for our Europe business and in Austria, clearly underline this."
Diehl said he is "eager to build on the strong legacy established by Srini. The principle of turning customers into fans [Kunden zu Fans machen] will remain central to everything we do," he claimed.
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