The former CEO of Sky UK & Ireland, Stephen van Rooyen, is to become the new CEO of VodafoneZiggo.
Van Rooyen, wats also Chief Commercial Officer for the Sky Group and spent 17 years at Sky in the UK and in several other countries in Europe including Germany, Italy, Austria, Ireland and Switzerland.
Ritchy Drost, VodafoneZiggo’s Chief Financial Officer, will lead VodafoneZiggo as interim CEO until van Rooyen joins in September. Van Rooyen’s appointment follows the retirement of previous VodafoneZiggo CEO Jeroen Hoencamp.
Mike Fries, Liberty Global CEO, said: “Stephen is an exceptionally talented executive with a strong track record of driving growth and innovation over the last two decades with Sky. He brings with him deep expertise in brand, products and innovation which is exactly what we need in the competitive Dutch market. I’d like to thank Jeroen Hoencamp for his years of great service and friendship and wish him all the best on his next journey.”
During his tenure at Sky, van Rooyen was behind a number of product launches including Sky Mobile, Sky Broadband, NOW TV as well as the evolution of Sky’s TV platforms, Sky Q, Sky Glass, and Sky Stream.
He stepped down from Sky at the end of February.
Commenting on his appointment, van Rooyen said: “I’m incredibly excited to join the VodafoneZiggo family. Having been based in London for many years, I look forward to a new experience, for both me and my family, living and working in The Netherlands.”
Mr. van Rooyen will be posted in The Netherlands, at the Company’s Utrecht headquarters. VodafoneZiggo is a joint-venture between Vodafone Group and Liberty Global.
