Mar 2, 2020 - Technology

Nokia appoints new CEO amid growing 5G competition

Kia Kokalitcheva

Photo: Zhang Yang/Huanqiu.com/VCG via Getty Images

Nokia chief executive and president Rajeev Suri will step down on Sept. 1 and be replaced by Fortum CEO Pekka Lundmark, the company announced on Monday.

Why it matters: Nokia is one of only a few companies that make gear for 5G and other cellular networks, an area of increasing geopolitical focus — and growing competition among these companies. It has also reportedly hired advisers to consider strategic moves like a merger or asset sales.

Between the lines: Nokia has struggled in the face of intense competition from its rivals and has reported weaker results in recent quarters.

  • The CEO switch also comes after Suri indicated to the board that he wanted to step down, setting off a search for his replacement.

Pekka Lundmark, currently CEO and president of Finnish energy company Fortum, previously held the same position at Konecranes, which manufactures and services cranes and other lifting equipment.

  • He also spent the '90s as an executive at Nokia.

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Kia Kokalitcheva

Facebook board nears gender parity with two new directors

Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Facebook has added two new members to its board: Nancy Killefer, a former government official and longtime McKinsey executive, and Tracey T. Travis, the chief financial executive of The Estee Lauder Companies.

Why it matters: The additions double the number of women Facebook directors and make the board 40% female. Despite significant progress in recent years, women still hold just 20% of board seats globally in publicly traded companies.

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Kyle Daly

Why TikTok and Huawei are in lawmakers' sights

Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

Policymakers in D.C. are targeting a handful of specific Chinese-owned companies as they try to thread the needle between protecting U.S. security and avoiding wider disruption of the two nations' interdependent economies.

The big picture: A new wave of proposals in Congress is turning TikTok, Huawei and other specific companies into proxies in Washington's broader power struggle with Beijing.

Go deeperArrowMar 5, 2020 - Technology
Dion Rabouin

CEO salaries are growing at an unprecedented pace

Reproduced from As You Sow; Chart: Axios Visuals

CEO pay is growing at breakneck speeds even for top executives who aren't doing a very good job. In response to this trend of overvalued execs, social responsibility nonprofit As You Sow released its latest report on the most overpaid CEOs of S&P 500 companies.

What it means: The list is a calculation based on the chief executive's pay package, total shareholder return of the company during the previous year, and the pay relative to their company's average worker.

Go deeperArrowFeb 27, 2020 - Economy & Business