Tele Columbus has elected two new members to its advisory board after former deputy chairman Martin Mildner stepped down.
Ralf Hartings and Friedrich Joussen have now been appointed to an expanded Supervisory Board, following the fibre company’s Annual General Meeting.
Since 2023, Hartings has been a member of the Management Board of United Internet AG, where he is responsible for Finance & Controlling, Risk Management, Internal Audit, Legal Affairs, M&A and Investment Management. He has over 20 years of international experience in the IT and telecommunications sector, having held roles with the likes of Vodafone, Verizon Wireless, AOL and P&I AG. Prior to his current position, Hartings’ role within the United Internet Group was as CFO of 1&1 Mail & Media Applications SE, where he headed up Finance and Human Resources from April 2021.
Joussen currently works as an external consultant for United Internet AG. Before that, he spent nine years as CEO of the TUI Group between 2013 and 2022. Joussen held a variety of roles at the Mannesmann Mobilfunk Group, later the Vodafone Group, before serving as the CEO of Vodafone Deutschland GmbH between 2005 and 2012. Between 2017 and 2021, he was also the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sixt SE.
Marc van’t Noordende, Christoph Oppenauer and Annelies van Zutphen will continue to serve on the Supervisory Board, with van’t Noordende in the position of Chairman and Ralf Hartings taking on the role of Deputy Chairman.
The dual appointment increases the number of members on the Supervisory Board from four to five.
Going forward, the Supervisory Board and Management Board aim to establish a Supervisory Board with six members to better represent the interests of the shareholders in accordance with their shareholding ratio. The sixth Supervisory Board position will remain vacant for the time being until a suitable candidate can be found.
Marc van’t Noordende, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Tele Columbus AG said: “Ralf Hartings and Friedrich Joussen are two outstanding additions to the Supervisory Board of Tele Columbus AG. They fit the desired skills profile perfectly, and their extensive expertise reflects the goals that have been set for the board’s composition.”
