Gerard Kleisterlee
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Gerard Kleisterlee is the current President and Chief Executive Officer of Royal Philips Electronics (known universally as Philips) and Chairman of its Board of Management and Group Management Committees.
He was born in Germany in 1946 to a mixed (Dutch and German) couple and was raised in the Netherlands. He was educated at a Jesuit-run school and went on to study at the Eindhoven University of Technology and became an electronic engineer, and like his father he has worked at Philips all his life.
From 1981 to 1986 he was the General Manager of Philips' Professional Audio Product Group. Kleisterlee joined Philips Components in 1986. After becoming General Manager of Philips Display Components for Europe, he has attended Wharton School's Advanced Management Program[1]in 1991.
Upon return to Philips, he was appointed Managing Director of Philips Display Components Worldwide in 1994. He became President of Philips Taiwan and Regional Manager for Philips Components in Asia-Pacific in 1996. From September 1997 through June 1998 he was also responsible for all the activities of the Philips Group in China. He was appointed as a member of the Hong Kong Chief Executive's Council of International Advisers in the years of 1998-2005[4].
Kleisterlee determined not only to transform Philips' image with consumers but also turn it into a high-growth, high-tech company, something that more than 10 years of restructuring, under two predecessors, failed to do. Since becoming CEO he has done the following [2]
- a) replaced all of the top executives at Philips' consumer-electronics division in the U.S.
- b) outsourced the production of mobile phone handsets and VCRs
- c) cut the number of factories from 269 to 160
- d) sold a number of low-growth businesses such as fax machines
- e) slashed overhead
- f) forced divisions to share services to achieve cost savings
- g) spun off the volatile semiconductors business into a separate entity named NXP Semiconductors and sold a controlling 80.1% stake to a consortium of private equity investors
[edit] Recognition
- He was awarded an Honorary doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven in 2005.
- Gerard Kleisterlee was named 2006 Europe Businessman of the Year by Fortune[3]
[edit] References
- ^ [1] University of Pennsylvania Wharton School alumni magazine
- ^ [2] Fastcompany.com
- ^ [3] Fortune names Kleisterlee as European 2006 Businessman of the Year
