SK Telecom appoints new CEO; Omnicom names president, COO

S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a weekly rundown of executive and board changes in the technology, media and communications industries.

Top News

* SK Telecom Co. Ltd. named Ryu Young-sang its new CEO. Ryu was previously president of the South Korean telco's mobile network operator business.

* Omnicom Group Inc. promoted Daryl Simm, CEO of the company's media agency group, to the newly created role of president and COO of the larger ad holding company, according to a report distributed by Dow Jones Newswires. Florian Adamski, global CEO of OMD, replaced Simm as CEO of Omnicom Media Group. George Manas, who has served as president and chief media officer of OMD U.S., replaced Adamski.

The Americas

* SAP SE-owned experience management platform operator Qualtrics International Inc. appointed D.P. Brightful as president of worldwide field operations. Brightful was most recently global chief revenue officer at Salesforce.com Inc. unit Salesforce Health.

* Nexstar Media Group Inc. promoted Dana Zimmer to president of distribution. She joined the broadcasting company as chief distribution and strategy officer in 2019 and will continue to report to Chairman and CEO Perry Sook.

* Cirrus Logic Inc. CFO Thurman Case plans to retire after working with the company for over 21 years, including 14 years as its finance chief. Case will remain in his role until a replacement is appointed.

* John Wiley & Sons Inc. Executive Vice President and CFO John Kritzmacher plans to retire at the end of the year after eight years of service. Christina Van Tassell, who was most recently CFO of Dow Jones & Co. Inc., will replace Kritzmacher at November-end. Kritzmacher will continue with the publishing company until year-end as an adviser.

* Cloud-based software provider MeridianLink Inc. appointed Reema Poddar to its board as a class II director and member of the cybersecurity committee, effective Nov. 3.

* Bubblr Inc. appointed Rik Willard as CEO, effective Nov. 1, and named former CEO Steven Saunders as chief commercialization officer of the software company. Willard was managing director of Agentic Group LLC before joining Bubblr.

* TVA Group Inc. named Régine Laurent as a director of the broadcasting company, effective Oct. 28.

* Infogain Corp., a Microsoft Corp. gold partner and Azure expert managed services provider, appointed Anil Kaul as its chief artificial intelligence officer. Kaul will continue to be the CEO of Absolutdata Technologies Inc., as well as executive vice president of AI and analytics at Infogain.

Europe, Middle East and Africa

* British Broadcasting Corp. unit BBC Studios Ltd. appointed Nick Percy to head the newly consolidated Asia-Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa distribution units, effective Jan. 31, 2022.

* The supervisory board of Croatian operator Hrvatski Telekom reappointed Natasa Rapaic as a board member and residential COO for three years, beginning Feb. 1, 2022, Telecompaper reported. The Deutsche Telekom AG unit also appointed Ivan Bartulovic as a board member and chief human resources officer, effective March 1, 2022.

* Greek media company Antenna Group SA appointed former RTL Group SA head Bert Habets as CEO, replacing Jonathan Procter, Variety reported.

* Polish operator Inea SA named Robert Biedricki as its new CFO, Telecompaper reported.

* The U.K. government confirmed the appointment of New Zealand Privacy Commissioner John Edwards, effective Jan. 3, 2022.

Asia-Pacific

* Kuaishou Technology Chairman Su Hua ceased to concurrently serve as CEO of the company. The content community and social platform provider promoted Chief Product Officer Cheng Yixiao to succeed Su as CEO. Su will remain chairman, an executive director and a member of the board's remuneration committee.

* Australia's TPG Telecom Ltd. appointed Grant Dempsey its new CFO, effective February 2022. Dempsey is CFO of Alumina Ltd. TPG Telecom Deputy CFO Sean Crowley will assume the role of interim CFO until Dempsey's start date.

* Malaysian operator Axiata Group Bhd. promoted Thomas Hundt to the role of group chief strategy and technology officer. Following his new role, Hundt will step down as CEO of Axiata's Cambodian unit Smart Axiata Co. Ltd. Feiruz Ikhwan, CFO of Smart Axiata, will become the company's acting CEO.

* Ian McGill resigned as chairman and nonexecutive director of Prime Media Group Ltd. The Australian broadcasting company nominated Cass O'Connor to replace McGill as chair.

* Beijing ByteDance Technology Co. Ltd. CFO Shou Zi Chew is stepping down to focus on the company's short-video unit TikTok Inc. as its CEO, Reuters reported, citing an internal memo. The move comes as ByteDance plans to reorganize and create six business units.

Links are current as of publication time; we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.