German cable operator Tele Columbus has announced that CEO Markus Oswald will leave the company on 31 December 2025, citing personal reasons.
The decision was taken by mutual agreement, the company said. Oswald has led Tele Columbus and its consumer brand PŸUR for the past three years.
In a statement, the Supervisory Board paid tribute to Oswald’s leadership during what it described as a “critical and demanding phase” for the Berlin-based company.
During his tenure, Oswald oversaw the stabilisation of Tele Columbus’s relationships with the housing industry in a period during which changes in Germany’s media law terminated the legal possibility for landlords to include cable TV subscriptions in tenants’ monthly ancillary costs. In March 2024, he also concluded a comprehensive refinancing package, including additional funding from the company’s majority shareholder, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.
“Markus Oswald has led Tele Columbus AG with great clarity and reliability. Under his responsibility, key projects were advanced that sustainably strengthen the company,” said Supervisory Board Chairman Peer Knauer. He highlighted progress in network modernisation and fibre strategy, simplification of the group’s corporate structure, optimisation of key business processes, improvements in customer service, efficiency programmes, stronger financial stability and the separation of network operations from sales and service activities.
Oswald said he was grateful for his time at the company: “Together, we set important course directions, stabilised key projects and achieved progress that will sustainably strengthen the company. It was a great honour to lead this team and actively shape the transformation of the group.”
The Supervisory Board is in the final stages of preparing Oswald’s successor and said an announcement would be made shortly. In the interim, Joachim Lubsczyk, Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, will assume the role of interim Chief Executive.
