DT brings former CFO Dannenfeldt back into fold

Former Deutsche Telekom Chief Financial Officer Thomas Dannenfeldt is poised to return to the DT fold via a Board of Directors seat at American business T-Mobile US, as part of a reshuffle following two recent resignations.

The US operator has confirmed that outgoing Telekom Deutschland Chief Executive Srini Gopalan is to vacate his seat on the board at the end of this month, ahead of starting his new position as Chief Operator Officer at T-Mobile on 1 March. He has been a board member since August 2022.

In addition, Kelvin Westbrook, President and Chief Executive of KRW Advisors and Chair of T-Mobile’s Compensation Committee, has notified the operator that he will not seek re-election to the board. His exit will be effective after the next Annual Meeting of Stockholders, for which a date has not yet been set. Westbrook served on the board since April 2013.

T-Mobile said in a statement that both resignations are “not the result of disagreements” between the execs or with the telco on anything to do with its “operations, policies, or practices”.

Dannenfeldt back on the DT scene

Along with the two departures, the T-Mobile appointment brings Dannenfeldt back into the DT Group fold. The operator said it plans to nominate him to be a director on the board at this year’s Annual Meeting.

Dannenfeldt was DT’s CFO from 2014 to 2018, working alongside CEO Tim Höttges, and served on T-Mobile’s Board of Directors from 2013 to 2018.

He was also Chair of the Board at T-Systems International and a Board member at DT and Orange’s procurement joint venture BuyIn (2013-2018), as well as a member of UK operator EE’s Board (2014-2016) up to its sale to BT Group.

He has since November 2020 been Chairman at German consumer electronics retail group Ceconomy and had served on the board of Nokia since 2020.

Dannenfeldt’s career at DT spanned 26 years before he stepped down in mid-2018, citing personal reasons. In his last five years, he was Group CFO after replacing Höttges when the latter was elevated to the CEO position.

At one point, he looked to be being groomed for the top job at DT, but appeared to be damaged by misses on headline cost-cutting targets in 2018. Still, he and Höttges were seen as close and the CEO expressed regret when Dannenfeldt flagged he was leaving (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #71, #74, and #93).