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
* SoftBank Group Corp. appointed Ralf Wenzel CEO of its Latin American Tech Hub, an incubator for startups, joint ventures and strategic partnerships across the region. Before joining SoftBank, Wenzel built three companies, including food delivery business Foodpanda GmbH.
* In more SoftBank news, the company is tapping COO Marcelo Claure to help turn around WeWork Cos. Inc., the U.S. coworking giant which saw its CEO step down amid mounting pressure following the delayed IPO of its parent company The We Co., Bloomberg News reported. Claure, who is also the former chief executive of Sprint Corp., will be tasked to help WeWork's new leadership identify revenue and cost-saving opportunities.
* Jonathan Spink is stepping down as CEO of HBO Asia under a management restructuring at WarnerMedia LLC's Asia-Pacific business. WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks appointed Ricky Ow as president, distribution and advertising sales of APAC, uniting Turner Asia Pacific and HBO Asia.
* Seven West Media Ltd. appointed Charlotte Valente to the newly created position of chief marketing officer. Before joining the Australian broadcaster, Valente held marketing roles at companies including APN Outdoor Group Ltd. The network is also looking to appoint a chief digital officer and chief content officer under the company's newly streamlined senior management team. The news comes a week after The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Seven West Media will shed up to 160 jobs across multiple divisions as part of a restructuring to reduce costs.
* In more Seven West Media news, the company's head of corporate affairs, Stephen Browning, has resigned. Saul Shtein, head of sport at Seven West Media, also left the network. According to Mumbrella, Shtein's departure is James Warburton's first big move since taking the CEO position in August.
Media industry moves
* SKY Network Television Ltd. appointed former Sky Ltd. executive Neil Martin as global CEO of its online rugby network RugbyPass Ltd., and named RugbyPass founder Tim Martin as executive chairman. The company also named Joan Withers as a member of its board. Withers joins Sky with a 25-year media career, including as CEO of Fairfax Media Ltd.
* Sneha Rajani, head of film production at Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd., is leaving the company. Rajani exits the Sony Corp. subsidiary this month, but her future plans are not known yet, according to Mint.
* Star India Pvt. Ltd. appointed Nitin Bawankule head of ad sales, Television Post reported. Prior to joining the company, Bawankule served as country director for Google LLC's Google Cloud India.
* ALTBalaji COO Sunil Nair said he resigned from his position to pursue new adventures. ALTBalaji is a subscription video-on-demand service owned by Balaji Telefilms Ltd.
* Netflix Inc. hired former BBC Studios Ltd. executive Myleeta Aga to oversee programming in Southeast Asia and Australia, TBI Vision reported.
Communications industry moves
* Telstra Corp. Ltd. appointed Kim Krogh Andersen as group executive for product and technology. Andersen is currently senior vice president and head of global technology strategy at Telenor ASA and will commence his role at Telstra in January 2020.
* Gautam Anand resigned as Bharti Airtel Ltd.'s chief people officer for India and South Asia, The Economic Times of India reported. An Airtel spokesperson confirmed the exit, saying Anand left due to personal reasons.
* Telekom Malaysia appointed Razidan Ghazalli as CFO, effective Nov. 1, The Star reported, citing a stock exchange filing. Ghazalli replaces Nor Fadhillah Mohd Ali, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
* Bill Barney stepped down as CEO of Reliance Communications Ltd., The Economic Times reported. He will remain chairman and chief executive of Global Cloud Xchange, an undersea cable subsidiary of RCom, as it goes through bankruptcy proceedings and a corporate restructuring process in the U.S.
* Phit Photharamik resigned from his position as CEO of Thailand-based telco Jasmine International PCL after the local Securities and Exchange Commission ruled that the executive used insider information for stock trading, Prachachat reported. Photharamik also stepped down as chairman and director of Mono Technology PCL.
Technology industry moves
* Lee Jae-yong is expected to step down as inside director of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and will not seek an extension of his term when it expires Oct. 26, Business Korea reported. An unnamed Samsung official said Lee, who will remain vice chairman of the company, is leaving his director post due to circumstances including his bribery trial, according to Reuters.
* Xu Zhijun assumed the position of rotating and acting chairman of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. During his term, Xu will head the board of directors and its executive committee until March 31, 2020. Xu is currently deputy chairman of the board.
* Toshiba Memory Holdings Corp. appointed Lorenzo Flores as vice chairman, effective November. Flores previously served as CFO and executive vice president of chipmaker Xilinx Inc.
* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. hired two scientists in the field of vision technology to join its AI Labs, KrASIA reported. Chen Ying, former chief engineer at Qualcomm Inc., will become chief scientist of artificial intelligence and edge computing. Tan Ping, an associate professor at Canada's Simon Fraser University, will become chief scientist of vision technology.
* LG Display Co. Ltd. named LG Chem Ltd. President Jeong Ho-young as its new CEO. Current CEO Han Sang-beom offered to step down due to mounting losses, Reuters reported, citing a company statement.
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