Telefónica confirms Alierta replacement

José María Alvarez-Pallete

Spanish telco Telefónica’s board has approved the appointment of José María Alvarez-Pallete as executive chairman of the company.

Alvarez-Pallete replaces long-serving chairman César Alierta, who announced his departure last week. He has previously served in a number of top executive positions at Telefónica, including chief operating officer of the Spanish unit and executive chairman of Telefónica Latin America and Telefónica Europe, including Spain.

Telefónica has also named four new independent directors to replace departing members  Fernando de Almansa, Carlos Colomer, Santiago Fernández-Valbuena and Alfonso Ferrari. These are Ignacio Cirac, a physicist and managing director of Germany’s Max Planck Institute, Javier Echenique, general manager of BBVA Group, Sabina Fluxà, CEO of Iberostar Group, and Peter Löscher, president and CEO of Siemens Group.

“José María Álvarez-Pallete is the best-prepared and most valuable executive to face the newest challenges of the digital market,” said Alierta.