Leo Apotheker
| Léo Apotheker | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
18 September 1953 Aachen, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Education | Hebrew University |
| Occupation | Board member, Schneider Electric SA |
| Known for | CEO, Hewlett-Packard (2010-2011) CEO, SAP AG (2008-2010) |
| Board member of | Schneider Electric SA Steria GT Nexus PlaNet Finance |
Léo Apotheker (born September 18, 1953, in Aachen) is a German business executive. He served briefly as the chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard from November 2010 until his firing in September 2011. He also served as co-chief executive officer of SAP from April 2008 until he resigned in February 2010 following a decision by that company to not renew his contract.
During his tenure as chief executive at HP, the company lost more than $30 billion in market capitalization after a series of strategic missteps by the company, leading to his resignation. At SAP, which he joined in 1988 and where he spent more than twenty years, he played an instrumental role in developing and implementing a number of significant changes.
Apotheker currently sits on the board of Schneider Electric SA, Steria, and PlaNet Finance - a non-profit organization. He previously served on the Board of Directors of GT Nexus. Apotheker is fluent in five languages—German, Dutch, French, English and Hebrew.
Apotheker's parents were Polish Jews who fled to the Russo-Chinese border after the Nazis invaded Poland at the outbreak of World War II. After the war, they settled in Aachen, Germany, where Léo Apotheker was born on September 18, 1953. He later moved to Antwerp, Belgium.
By his own account, he organized a student strike in high school, and had two of his teeth knocked out by a policeman on horseback in the melee that followed. At the age of 18 he moved to Israel where he studied economics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Prior to joining SAP in 1988, Apotheker held several financial and operations positions at European companies.
After joining SAP, he held positions of increasing responsibility; and in 1995 was promoted to CEO and founder of SAP France and SAP Belgium. Later in 1997, he became the president of SAP's South West Europe region; and by 1999, president of SAP EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) sales region.
...
Wikipedia