Vodafone chief leaves as firm turns profit
updated 01:20 pm EDT, Tue May 27, 2008
Sarin Leaves Vodafone
Vodafone had mixed news on Tuesday as the company announced the departure of chief executive Arun Sarin just as the company turned to profit for its latest full year of results. The senior official explains that the company's shift from a yearly loss of $10.8 billion in 2007 to a $13.2 billion profit today suggests that he has accomplished his goal of reviving the company and that it was time to move on to a new position; European regional chief Vittorio Colao will take Sarin's place when the latter's departure takes effect after a company general meeting on July 29th.
"I’ve done what I came here to do," Sarin said during the company's conference call for its latest results. "The time is right and the time is now."
In addition to recovering Vodafone's finances, Sarin is widely regarded as one of the most influential heads both of Vodafone and internationally. The CEO is responsible for maintaining a significant stake in American carrier Verizon despite internal criticism and bought a controlling stake in Hutchison Essar, one of the major telecoms providers for India.
Sarin is also believed to have been instrumental in landing a ten-nation iPhone deal that has Vodafone offering the Apple device in key countries, including India as well as Australia and Italy.
The company's most recent profit chiefly comes as the result of strong data service profits as well as Vodafone's increased influence in the developing world, where many customers are either first-time users or only just moving to more advanced services.
