Andrew Penn, the CEO of Telstra, is retiring.
Yep, you read that right. Penn has been the CEO of Telstra since 2015. Prior to this, he joined the telecommunications company as its CFO in 2012.
As the CEO, he’s seen some pretty big things happen. During his time, 5G came into play, 1,000 Mbps internet plans became accessible and we saw the NBN rollout (mostly) complete.
“Andy has led Telstra during a period of significant change and will be known for his courage in setting a bold ambition through the T22 strategy to deliver a transformed experience for customers, shareholders and employees,” says Telstra chairman John Mullen.
“During his time as CEO, Andy has driven a focus on digitisation underpinned by a commitment to simplifying our products and services for our customers and employees. He has also maintained our leadership in networks, including recently through our investment to lead on 5G.”
Vicki Brady, currently the CFO of Telstra, will replace Penn as the CEO. She will be the first female CEO of the company.
“The greatest testament to this is the ability to announce an internal successor to the role of CEO and I am thrilled to be able to announce Vicki in the role today,” added Mullen.
“She has played a key leadership role in the development of Telstra’s T25 strategy and is well placed to lead the company through its next phase. She could not be more qualified to take over the reins to deliver on our T25 commitments.”
This year, Telstra has made some pretty big strides in the telecommunications world. These include two satellite network announcements this year, one in partnership with Viasat and one in partnership with OneWeb, along with the partnership with TPG to share their networks in regional Australia.
It’ll be interesting to see if Telstra changes its tune on anything with Penn retiring.
Brady will take over the top job from September 1, 2022.