Deutsche Telekom is promoting its corporate development VP Thorsten Langheim to board member and giving him his own department to manage the company's US operations and group development. He is expected to take up the new role of board member and head of the 'USA and Group Development' department from 01 January 2019.
Langheim (52) has been with Deutsche Telekom since 2009, starting as head of M&A and since 2016 as Executive Vice President Group Development. He previously worked in private equity at Blackstone and as an investment banker with JP Morgan and West LB.
Telekom said Langheim is already responsible for the majority of the functions at the new department. The promotion reflects the growing importance of T-Mobile US, pending its merger with Sprint, as well as the company's focus on further developing its portfolio, after a number of transactions in the past year. Telekom said Langheim's tasks have grown significantly in recent years, and he is already responsible for more than 50 percent of the group's revenue.
Alongside the US business, Langheim will continue to be responsible for investment management at Deutsche Telekom. This includes the company's activities in the UK, including its stake in BT, and the Netherlands, where it is awaiting regulatory clearance for a proposed merger with Tele2. He will also be responsible for the towers unit Deutsche Funkturm and the cell towers in the Netherlands and Austria, assets which the company has been considering selling, and the DT Capital Partners venture capital portfolio. In addition, he is responsible for mergers and acquisitions, as well as Deutsche Telekom's portfolio strategy.
The appointment means that in future, Deutsche Telekom will have nine management board departments. Alongside the CEO department, there are departments for Germany, Europe, Technology & Innovation, T-Systems, HR, Data Privacy, Legal Affairs and Compliance, and Finance.
