It will be interesting to see how Tom Enders differs in management style and substance to Louis Gallois, the man he replaces as EADS CEO in May. Gallois, by any measure, has been a remarkably successful leader of the European conglomerate over the past five years, keeping business units, finances and programmes on track and, most importantly, repairing a lot of the Franco-German mistrust and rivalry that threatened to derail the EADS project in its early years.
He is 15 years younger than the Frenchman, German, and, unlike Gallois, has a long history in management at EADS and its predecessor companies, having led Airbus, the defence division and former DASA businesses before the merger. But he has worked closely with Gallois since the mid-2000s, firstly as co-CEO of EADS and then reporting to him as head of EADS's biggest division, Airbus.
Few of the other management changes cause eyebrows to be raised. While Enders steps up into the job he has long coveted, his replacement as Airbus CEO is his former deputy, Fabrice Brégier, who will retain the same reporting line.
While a French CEO currently reports to a board headed by a German, Bodo Uebber of Daimler, from May, Enders' chairman will be Frenchman Arnaud Lagardère, head of the eponymous media company and EADS's main French private shareholder.
Elsewhere, the relatively low-profile Günter Butschek, presently head of operations at Airbus to move to deputy job vacated by Bregier. Harald Wilhelm will become chief financial officer of EADS, replacing the veteran Hans Peter who is retiring.
A few heavyweights from the worlds of business and finance will sit on the board, including the former president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, joining the ranks of Anglo-Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and Sir John Parker of Anglo American.
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