Deutsche Telekom gives serial board member Leroy a top non-exec role

Dominique Leroy, who was due to be KPN’s CEO until an insider trading investigation got in the way, is set to join the DT board.

The former Proximus CEO will be the new Board member for Deutsche Telekom’s Europe segment from the start of November. Leroy (pictured) has plenty of experience both in telecoms and sitting on corporate boards, so would appear to be an ideal appointment. However she wouldn’t be available at all if her appointment as KPN CEO hadn’t been scuppered by an investigation into her selling of a bunch of Proximus shares just before she handed in her notice.

Anyway, that was nearly a year ago and the investigation presumably didn’t conclude catastrophically for Leroy, because DT is happy for her to be a representative of its brand. “The supervisory board is pleased about the increased internationality and diversity on the Deutsche Telekom board of management,” was the touching tribute of Ulrich Lehner, Chairman of the DT supervisory board.

“We won’t stop,” said DT CEO Timotheus Höttges, for some reason. “We are looking forward to working with Dominique in the Board team. She has over 30 years of experience in the consumer goods and telecommunications industry and knows our industry like the back of her hand. I appreciate her strong market and customer orientation. She stands for growth. I know Dominique Leroy from many meetings in Brussels. There she will also provide us with very good support in our political and regulatory work.”

Being a non-executive director always seems like a cushy number. They don’t seem to do much actual work and once you’re on the circuit there seem to be regular opportunities to join other boards. Leroy was on loads of boards before her mishap last year and this is a great step towards building up that collection again.