Ericsson CEO Ekholm could be set to step down – report

Anonymous insiders have told Swedish financial paper DI that Ericsson plans to replace Börje Ekholm with the departing Saab CEO sometime next year.

DI is both Swedish language and behind a paywall, so we’re relying in Reuters’ account of the original report here. Some handy unnamed sources have told DI that the plan was always for Ekholm (pictured) to only be in charge for as long as it took to steady the ship after the rocky conclusion of Hans Vestberg’s time at the helm. Ekholm is, after all, an investor rather than a company CEO, so maybe the feeling is that his strengths lie more in executing short-term tactical objectives than setting and implementing long-term strategic ones.

Someone more cut out to dictate Ericsson’s direction for the foreseeable future may be Håkan Buskhe, who has been CEO of Swedish engineering company Saab since 2010, but who announced he was calling it a day earlier this month. He has a six month notice period and the DI report would have us believe that the Ericsson board has already tapped him up to replace Ekholm any time after his gardening leave is finished.

“The reason I choose to leave Saab is that I would like to face another operational challenge in my career,” said Buskhe after handing in his resignation. “Until a new CEO is in place, I will continue to have full focus on Saab to ensure a smooth arrival for my successor, with the priorities being the implementation of the major projects together with our customers and the continued work to achieve Saab’s financial goals.”

The report notes that Investor AB, of which Ekholm was the CEO before stepping into the breach at Ericsson, is the biggest single shareholder in both Ericsson and Saab, with 40% of the voting shared in the latter. So Buskhe is presumably well-known to both Ekholm and the Ericsson board. It’s certainly not inconceivable that they will have discussed this move over a luxury pickled herring or two at some time.

Ericsson hadn’t responded to our request for comment at time of writing, but since it wouldn’t give one to Reuters either we’re not holding our breath. Ericsson’s shares were down a couple of percent at time of writing, which isn’t bad considering the positive effect Ekholm has had on the company. Alternatively it could equally be a sign that most investors don’t take the DI report very seriously or that they don’t think Buskhe would be a bad replacement.