Leo Apotheker
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Léo Apotheker (* September 18, 1953 in Aachen) is co-CEO and a member of the Executive Board of SAP AG.
Léo Apotheker has been a member of the SAP AG Executive Board since 2002, promoted to co-CEO of the company in April 2008. In this role, he is responsible for all of SAP's customer operations including sales, marketing, consulting, education and training, SME, and field services. It is widely expected that Mr. Apotheker will be named the company's next "sole" CEO when CEO Henning Kagermann's contract with the company expires in May 2009, at which point Mr. Kagermann might take on the role of Supervisory Board Chairman.[1]
Prior to this role, Mr. Apotheker was Deputy CEO from 2007 to 2008, member of the SAP AG Executive Board and President of Global Customer Solutions & Operations from 2002 to 2007, and President of SAP EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) from 1999 to 2002. Since joining SAP in 1988, Léo Apotheker has held other various positions within the company including CEO and founder of SAP France and SAP Belgium (1995-1997) and President of SAP’s South West Europe region (1997-1999).
During his career, Léo Apotheker has held management positions at a variety of companies in the IT industry. From 1994 to 1995, he was management partner at ABP Partners, a strategic management consulting company specialized in global strategy definition and implementation and in restructuring of ailing software companies.
Before joining ABP partners, he served as founding president and COO of ECsoft (1992-1994), one of the largest European venture capital startups. He also held positions at McCormack & Dodge Europe and Swift.
German-born and fluent in five languages (Dutch, English, French, German, and Hebrew), Léo Apotheker graduated in International Relations and Economics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is also a member of the Supervisory Board for AXA.
In a ceremony in Paris on December 5, 2007, Léo Apotheker was honored with the French Légion d'honneur. As the CEO and founder of SAP France and SAP Belgium, and later as president of SAP EMEA, Léo has played a key role in increasing competitive capabilities and innovation for French industries. Other recipients in 2007 include the CEOs of Saint-Gobain, EDF, France Telecom, SUEZ and, the Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP Paribas), all long-term SAP customers. The Legion of Honor award is the equivalent of the German Bundesverdienstkreuz and the American Medal of Freedom. It was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte to recognize deeds of outstanding achievements.
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[edit] Notes
- ^ News sources have extensively covered this future plan, including this Forbes article, with some additional details in Shai Agassi's Wikipedia entry.
