SINGAPORE, Dec 19 — StarHub, the second biggest telecommunications firm here, has found a new chief executive officer (CEO) after a five-month global search.
Nikhil Eapen, 48, will take up the post on Jan 1 next year, StarHub announced in a statement yesterday.
Eapen, whose most recent position was with Singapore data firm ST Telemedia, replaces outgoing CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos, who left his post on October 31 to return to Australia for family reasons.
StarHub said: “Eapen has 20 years of experience in the global ICT (information and communications technology) sector working with senior executive teams to drive growth and make synergistic investments in infrastructure and enterprise communications and technology, most recently building and acquiring cloud-centric platforms in IT, cyber security and enterprise software.”
At ST Telemedia, Eapen served as deputy CEO.
He was also president and group CEO of ST Telemedia’s Infrastructure Technology (InfraTech).
Before that, Eapen was an investment banker for over 18 years at American financial giant Citigroup, spending part of that time in Hong Kong.
His time at Citigroup included a stint from 2008 to 2015 as Managing Director & Head of Asia-Pacific Technology, Media & Telecommunications Corporate & Investment Banking.
Eapen, a Singaporean by birth, graduated from the University College London, and is married with two daughters and a son.
StarHub had announced in July that Kaliaropoulos would be stepping down.
Kaliaropoulos said at the time that he would be returning to Sydney, Australia to be closer to his family due to “unforeseen serious health-related matters of a close family member”.
He had taken over the helm of StarHub in July 2018.
StarHub had said then that it had set up an executive committee that will support the management leadership team during the search for the next CEO and oversee the candidate’s smooth transition into the role.
StarHub said on Friday that in selecting Eapen, key criteria included strong leadership, senior executive experience in telco and adjacent industries, and strong track record of successful corporate transformation, among other considerations.
StarHub chairman Terry Clontz, a former CEO of the firm, said that the appointment of Eapen is “the result of a rigorous and extensive global executive search”.
“As an experienced executive with a proven track record of regional achievements and broad industry knowledge, my fellow directors and I are confident that Nikhil is well-qualified to lead StarHub in managing the challenges that operators face today, and to pursue new opportunities.” — TODAY
