Vodafone, Italian woman to step up as temporary ceo

Margherita Della Valle (pictured) will be taking over as the interim ceo of British-based telecoms multinational Vodafone by the end of this year. The former boss Nick Read said he will step down both as group chief executive and as a director of Vodafone on 31 December 2022 and that he will be available as an adviser to the Board until 31 March 2023. The main reason why he resigned is that tha group saw a 44% drop in share value since 2018, when he’s been appointed ceo, and 20% this year alone.

“It has been a privilege to spend over 20 years of my career at Vodafone and I am proud of what we have delivered for customers and society across Europe and Africa. I agreed with the Board that now is the right moment to hand over to a new leader who can build on Vodafone’s strengths and capture the significant opportunities ahead”, he said.

Jean-François van Boxmeer, chairman of Vodafone, explained: “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Nick for his commitment and significant contribution to Vodafone as Group Chief Executive and throughout his career spanning more than two decades with the company. During his four years as ceo, he led Vodafone through the pandemic, ensuring that our customers remained connected with their families and businesses. He has focused Vodafone in Europe and Africa as a converged connectivity provider and led the industry in Europe in unlocking value from tower infrastructure. Margherita has recently been taking a broader operational role within the Company and the Board fully supports her as interim group chief executive.”

Margherita Della Valle

Chief Financial Officer Margherita Della Valle will step in at the top for the moment pending the appointment of new ceo, Vodafone said, stressing she will accelerate the execution of the company’s strategy to improve operational performance and deliver shareholder value. In addition to being appointed interim group chief executive, Margherita Della Valle will also continue as group chief financial officer.

After a graduation at Bocconi University, Della Valle started working at Montedison in the early 1990s, then moved to Omnitel Pronto Italia in 1994 before the company was acquired by Vodafone in 2000. In Vodafone she served between 2004 and 2007 as chief financial officer for Vodafone Italia, group financial controller in 2010, deputy cfo in 2015, and cfo in 2018.