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Active at both Post and Telekom until May 2023: Frank Appel will become the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Telekom
Photo: FREDERIC SCHEIDEMANN/EPA-EFE/REX
The CEO of Deutsche Post, Frank Appel, will in future also lead the supervisory board of Deutsche Telekom.
The committee of the largest German telecommunications group elected Appel on Thursday evening after the general meeting as chairman of the supervisory board, as announced by Telekom.
Previously, the Telekom shareholders had cleared the way for the Post boss to lead the supervisory board in a personal union.
A number of shareholders expressed concerns about the manager's double burden.
Nevertheless, at the Telekom shareholders' meeting in Bonn, Appel finally received the necessary majority for entry into the control committee.
Appel succeeds Ulrich Lehner, who is leaving the Telekom Supervisory Board after 14 years.
Appel wants to hand over some of his duties to the post office
At the beginning of December, Appel declared that he had decided "after careful consideration" to hand over the management of Deutsche Post.
His contract there runs until the beginning of May 2023. The 60-year-old Appel wants to take on a dual function for a good year and remain in the executive chair at the post office while at the same time being the head of the Telekom supervisory board.
This did not go down well with a number of shareholder representatives.
They warned against overloading Appel with time and pointed out that a set of rules for good corporate governance advises against such a double function.
Appel himself defended his candidacy at the Annual General Meeting.
He announced that he would soon be handing over some of his duties at the post office in order to have enough time for his supervisory board mandate at Telekom.
In addition, he has already dealt with similar double burdens several times in the past - for example when he was post boss and chairman of the supervisory board of Postbank at the same time during the financial crisis.
tfb/dpa/AFP
