Ben Verwaayen
Encyclopedia
Bernardus Johannes Maria "Ben" Verwaayen (born February 11, 1952) is a Dutch
businessman. On September 2, 2008 the Alcatel-Lucent
board of directors appointed Verwaayen as the company’s Chief Executive Officer
, succeeding Patricia Russo
.
. At school, he organised the first student parliament, and after graduating from Utrecht University
with a degree in law
and international relations
in 1975, wanted to be a journalist or politician.
with the Royal Netherlands Army
, where he founded the Algemene Vereniging Nederlandse Militairen (General Association of Dutch soldiers), a union
that existed until 1996.
On leaving the army, to enable him to continue his work with the trade union, he joined a subsidiary of ITT Corporation
because it gave him time to sit on a Dutch state committee to reform the army. His first promotion came after he headed to the European Union Parliament in Brussels
to protest about the company's alleged role in the overthrow of Salvador Allende
's government in Chile
- ITT responded by making him its Netherlands public relations chief.
In 1988, Verwaayen became a director of PTT Telecom, the state-owned Dutch telecoms group that was a forerunner of today's KPN
; and then appointed a board member of Lucent Technologies
in 1997, moving to the United States
. A committed Anglophile, he was CEO
of BT
. During his time there, he was also a board member for Dutch television production company Endemol
, and chaired the Confederation of British Industry
committee on climate change
. There was controversy over his management style at BT with accusations that BT Global Services had to write down substantial losses and that Verwaayen was to blame.
After standing down from BT on 1 June 2008 when Ian Livingston
took over, he was speculated to pursue a career in Dutch politics
. On September 2, 2008, the Alcatel-Lucent
board of directors appointed Verwaayen as the company’s chief executive officer, succeeding Patricia Russo
. In March 2009, he forwent a €520,000 cash bonus after a pay freeze had been imposed on staff and a loss-making 2008.
that existed until 1996.
Verwaayen has been a long time member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
. He sat in its executive for ten years, and also contributed to its election programme for the 2006 Dutch elections
. At various times, he was linked with a Cabinet
position. The current Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte
, has named him as one of his closest advisors.
(Netherlands), Honorary knight of the British Empire KBE (United Kingdom) and Chevalier de la Légion d 'Honneur
(France).
, but had a family home is Haslemere
, Surrey
where Verwaayen hosted a party in summer 2008, attended by 1,300 guests including former Vodafone
CEO Arun Sarin
, UK government ministers Stephen Twigg
and John Denham. Tennis
playing Verwaayen put on a celebrity tennis match between John Lloyd and Ilie Năstase
; and is also a fan of Arsenal F.C.
.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
businessman. On September 2, 2008 the Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent is a global telecommunications corporation, headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It provides telecommunications solutions to service providers, enterprises, and governments around the world, enabling these customers to deliver voice, data, and video services...
board of directors appointed Verwaayen as the company’s Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
, succeeding Patricia Russo
Patricia Russo
Patricia F. Russo is an American businessperson most widely known for having served as chief executive officer of Lucent Technologies and its successor, Alcatel-Lucent, a large communications equipment manufacturer. She currently serves on the board of directors of HP, General Motors, Merck & Co....
.
Early life
Verwaayen is the fifth of six children born to a family who owned a chemicals business in DriebergenDriebergen
Driebergen is a former village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. Later it became a part of the single town of Driebergen-Rijsenburg. And presently it's part of Utrechtse Heuvelrug....
. At school, he organised the first student parliament, and after graduating from Utrecht University
Utrecht University
Utrecht University is a university in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 29,082 students in 2008, and employed 8,614 faculty and staff, 570 of which are full professors....
with a degree in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
and international relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
in 1975, wanted to be a journalist or politician.
Career
On graduation, he decided to immediately undertake his National ServiceNational service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
with the Royal Netherlands Army
Royal Netherlands Army
The Royal Netherlands Army is the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands.-Short history:The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, but its origins date back to 1572, when the so-called Staatse Leger was raised...
, where he founded the Algemene Vereniging Nederlandse Militairen (General Association of Dutch soldiers), a union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
that existed until 1996.
On leaving the army, to enable him to continue his work with the trade union, he joined a subsidiary of ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation is a global diversified manufacturing company based in the United States. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control...
because it gave him time to sit on a Dutch state committee to reform the army. His first promotion came after he headed to the European Union Parliament in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
to protest about the company's alleged role in the overthrow of Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
's government in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
- ITT responded by making him its Netherlands public relations chief.
In 1988, Verwaayen became a director of PTT Telecom, the state-owned Dutch telecoms group that was a forerunner of today's KPN
KPN
KPN is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company, including both 2G and 3G mobile operations...
; and then appointed a board member of Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies
Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., originally Lucent Technologies, Inc. is a French-owned technology company composed of what was formerly AT&T Technologies, which included Western Electric and Bell Labs...
in 1997, moving to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. A committed Anglophile, he was CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of BT
BT Group
BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
. During his time there, he was also a board member for Dutch television production company Endemol
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
, and chaired the Confederation of British Industry
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works...
committee on climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. There was controversy over his management style at BT with accusations that BT Global Services had to write down substantial losses and that Verwaayen was to blame.
After standing down from BT on 1 June 2008 when Ian Livingston
Ian Livingston
Ian Livingston is the Chief Executive Officer of BT Group .The fourth generation son of Polish-Lithuanian Jews who arrived in Scotland 120 years ago, the family eventually owned a factory that made flying jackets and police uniforms...
took over, he was speculated to pursue a career in Dutch politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. On September 2, 2008, the Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent is a global telecommunications corporation, headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It provides telecommunications solutions to service providers, enterprises, and governments around the world, enabling these customers to deliver voice, data, and video services...
board of directors appointed Verwaayen as the company’s chief executive officer, succeeding Patricia Russo
Patricia Russo
Patricia F. Russo is an American businessperson most widely known for having served as chief executive officer of Lucent Technologies and its successor, Alcatel-Lucent, a large communications equipment manufacturer. She currently serves on the board of directors of HP, General Motors, Merck & Co....
. In March 2009, he forwent a €520,000 cash bonus after a pay freeze had been imposed on staff and a loss-making 2008.
Politics
During his military service, Verwaayen founded the Algemene Vereniging Nederlandse Militairen (General Association of Dutch soldiers), a unionTrade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
that existed until 1996.
Verwaayen has been a long time member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in...
. He sat in its executive for ten years, and also contributed to its election programme for the 2006 Dutch elections
Dutch general election, 2006
The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on November 22, 2006. And followed the call for new elections after the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet....
. At various times, he was linked with a Cabinet
Cabinet of the Netherlands
The cabinet of the Netherlands is the main executive body of the Dutch government. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Rutte cabinet.-Composition and role:...
position. The current Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte
Mark Rutte
Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has been Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010, as well as Minister of General Affairs in the Rutte cabinet...
, has named him as one of his closest advisors.
Honours
Verwaayen has received various honorary awards and has been made Officier in de Orde van Oranje NassauOrder of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...
(Netherlands), Honorary knight of the British Empire KBE (United Kingdom) and Chevalier de la Légion d 'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
(France).
Personal life
Married to Helena, the couple have two children. They currently reside in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, but had a family home is Haslemere
Haslemere
Haslemere is a town in Surrey, England, close to the border with both Hampshire and West Sussex. The major road between London and Portsmouth, the A3, lies to the west, and a branch of the River Wey to the south. Haslemere is approximately south-west of Guildford.Haslemere is surrounded by hills,...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
where Verwaayen hosted a party in summer 2008, attended by 1,300 guests including former Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
CEO Arun Sarin
Arun Sarin
Arun Sarin was the CEO of Britain's Vodafone Group plc. On June 29, 2008, he announced his resignation as CEO of Vodafone Group. He is a senior adviser at the private equity firm KKR. He serves on the board of directors of Cisco Systems and Safeway, Inc...
, UK government ministers Stephen Twigg
Stephen Twigg
Stephen Twigg is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Labour Co-operative Member of Parliament for Liverpool West Derby since 2010. He previously served as the Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 1997 to 2005, when he lost his seat. He came to national prominence in 1997...
and John Denham. Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
playing Verwaayen put on a celebrity tennis match between John Lloyd and Ilie Năstase
Ilie Nastase
Ilie Nastase is a Romanian former professional tennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s. Năstase was the World No. 1 tennis player between 1973 and 1974 . He is one of the five players in history to win more than 100 ATP professional titles . He was inducted into the...
; and is also a fan of Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
.