S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a monthly rundown of executive and board changes in the Asia-Pacific technology, media and communications industries.
Top news
* Lenovo Group Ltd. founder Liu Chuanzhi is set to retire and step down as chairman of Legend Holdings Corp., the parent company of Lenovo, TechNode reported, citing Chinese media. Liu will reportedly announce his retirement this week.
* Xiaomi Corp. announced several changes to its senior management. The smartphone maker promoted Wang Xiang, senior vice president and head of global business, to president of the company. Wang will be replaced by CFO Chew Shou Zi, who was appointed the president of global business. As a result, the company formed a committee to hire a new CFO. Meanwhile, Redmi's general manager, Lu Weibing, was named the president of Xiaomi's China operations.
* Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. Chairman Subhash Chandra has stepped down. He will remain as a nonexecutive director on the board of the media company, which he founded in 1992. Chandra's resignation comes days after Essel Group, a conglomerate he founded, saw its shareholding in Zee fall to 5% following a series of stake sales in order to pay off loan obligations. Zee Entertainment also reconstituted its board by appointing three new independent directors: R. Gopalan, Surendra Singh and Aparajita Jain.
Media industry moves
* Dish TV India Ltd.'s board approved the reappointment of Jawahar Lal Goel as managing director from Dec. 17 to March 31, 2020. The reappointment of Goel, who is also chairman of the company's board, is subject to the approval of shareholders.
* Japan Broadcasting Corp. appointed former Mizuho Financial Group Inc. executive Terunobu Maeda as its new president, replacing Ryoichi Ueda. Maeda's appointment is effective Jan. 25, 2020, for a three-year term.
* Netflix Inc. appointed former British Broadcasting Corp. executive Myleeta Aga as director of content in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Variety reported.
* Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Ltd. named its former head of cricket and tennis, Brent Williams, as the company's new director of sport, Mumbrella reported.
* BBC Studios Ltd. promoted two executives to lead its operations in the Asia-Pacific region, TBI Vision reported. The company appointed Fiona Lang general manager for Australia and New Zealand, while Ryan Shiotani will become senior vice president and general manager for south and Southeast Asia.
Communications industry moves
* Singtel appointed Lee Theng Kiat as a nonexecutive director of the board and chairman-designate effective Jan. 15, 2020. Lee currently is chairman of Temasek International and is concurrently the executive director of Singtel's parent company, Temasek Holdings (Pte.) Ltd. The Singaporean telecom operator also named Kelly Bayer Rosmarin as CEO designate of its Australian subsidiaries, Singtel Optus Pty. Ltd. and Consumer Australia. She will take over the positions from Allen Lew, who is moving on to the newly created roles of CEO for group strategy and business development and country chief officer of Thailand. Rosmarin, who joined Optus in March as deputy CEO, will be part of Singtel's management committee from April 2020.
* Indonesian wireless carrier PT Telekomunikasi Selular appointed finance director Heri Supriadi as interim CEO following the departure of Emma Sri Martini, Warta Ekonomi reported. The appointment came after President Joko Widodo named Martini CFO of state-owned oil company PT Pertamina (Persero).
* Dominic Barton stepped down as a director of Singtel due to his recent appointment as Canada's ambassador to mainland China. Barton resigned in order to comply with the Canadian government's conflict of interest requirements.
* True Corp. named Anat Mekpaiboonvatana and Sarit Jinnasith as its new co-presidents. Prior to their appointment as co-presidents, Anat was most recently senior group managing director of regional management, while Sarit was COO and chief regulatory officer. Both executives have been with the Thai telco for over 25 years.
Technology industry moves
* Meng Wei, formerly the managing director of China International Capital Corp. Ltd., joined Shanghai-based game developer Giant Interactive Group Inc. as CFO, Tencent News reported.
* Praveen Akkiraju is stepping down as a managing partner of SoftBank Vision Fund LP to explore working with early-stage startups, Bloomberg News reported. Deep Nishar, a senior managing partner, will assume many of Akkiraju's responsibilities, including his board seat at Automation Anywhere Inc.
* Deltatre Ltd. appointed Michael D'Oliveiro as over-the-top commercial director for the Asia-Pacific region, Digital TV Europe reported. D'Oliveiro joins the London-based sports and entertainment technology provider from Dexecure Pte. Ltd., where he was head of growth.
* JD.com Inc. founder Liu Qiangdong stepped down from his general manager and senior executive roles at several company subsidiaries, including JD Cloud Technology, JD Cloud and online pharmacy Yiyao JD, according to Tianyancha.
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