Telecom Italia (TIM) has confirmed that its chief executive Flavio Cattaneo will be leaving the company by mutual consent after "the completion of the major and extraordinary turnaround" of the business. In a statement TIM said that since Cattaneo was appointed CEO in March 2016, the company had grown its customers and revenues to levels not reached in the last 10 years, increased its core investments and successfully reorganised internal processes and cut costs. It added that it would now embark on a second phase, "a conventional company relaunch that pursues the targets set by Flavio Cattaneo".
The company subsequently stated that it had agreed to pay the former head of public broadcaster Rai a total of EUR 25 million gross to step down as head of the group, making it the biggest severance pay ever awarded to an executive in Italy after just over a year in office. Under the terms of the "special award" clause in his contract, Cattaneo could have received up to EUR 40 million in addition to severance pay of around EUR 10 million. The amount finally paid out included EUR 22.9 million gross corresponding to the amounts due to Cattaneo based on his contract plus EUR 2.1 million gross as consideration for non-competition, non-solicitation and non-poaching covenants for one year.
The company’s confirmation follows a Reuters report in which six unnamed sources said Cattaneo was stepping down after clashing with Vivendi, the French company that controls TIM’s board via a 23.9 percent stake. Another report in La Repubblica said Cattaneo fell out with Vivendi because of its plan to appoint its chief convergence officer Amos Genish at his side. Barring surprises, Genish will now be confirmed as the operator’s managing director when it reports its first-half results later this week.
