The Orange Group welcomes a new CEO who will succeed Stéphane Richard, convicted in November in the Tapie/Crédit Lyonnais affair. Christel Heydemann will thus be the second woman to join the leaders of the CAC 40. Focus on her journey!
A second woman has made her sensational entry into the very closed circle of managers of CAC 40 companies. With 15 years of experience at Alcatel-Lucent and seven years at Schneider Electric, Christel Heydemann is appointed this Friday, January 28, at 47, general director of Orange.
In competition with interesting profiles selected by the Orange selection committee (Ramon Fernandez, financial director of the group, and Frank Boulben, one of the managers of the American Verizon), the Polytechnique graduate was able to count on the support from the government to beat them and get the job. The Ministry of the Economy very explicitly showed its support for Christel Heydemann at the beginning of January, indicating that it wanted to see a woman in power.
With her appointment, she becomes the second woman to lead a CAC 40 company, alongside Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor. From July 1, the list is expected to expand following the appointment of Estelle Brachlianoff, who will become general manager of Veolia.
Christel Heydemann: Academic and professional career 
Christel Heydemann, born in 1974, graduated from Polytechnic in 1997 and the National School of Bridges and Roads (École des Ponts ParisTech). Once her diploma in hand, she joined the prestigious consulting firm, The Boston Consulting Group as a junior consultant.
In 1999, she joined Alcatel Mobileformerly Alcatel One Touch (trademark belonging to Nokia Corporation), as Trade and Project Finance Manager. She will then go on to spend ten years within the group where she will occupy strategic positions: Key Account Manager (Orange and SFR), Vice-President France, VP Strategic Alliance HP and finally Executive Vice-President Human Resources and Transformation.
She thus participated in the major stages of transformation of the company, in particular the merger between Alcatel and Lucent. In 2008, she was appointed commercial director of Alcatel-Lucent France. With this in mind, she negotiated an alliance with the computer equipment manufacturer HP in the United States, before being promoted in 2011 to general director of human resources and member of the executive committee.
Christel Heydemann is strongly committed to associations, notably Young Global Leader, which she joined in March 2012 as Young Global Leader for five years. At the same time, she embarked on a new adventure with Schneider Electric, where she quickly rose through the ranks and became CEO.
In 2018, she became president of Gimélec, a French professional union representing 200 companies providing electrical and digital technologies for the management of energy, infrastructure, industry, buildings and electromobility. Ben Verwaayen, her ex-boss at Alcatel-Lucent, describes her to Le Figaro as being “anything but a dictator: she gets everyone on board and has the ability to imagine the impossible. She’s a natural CEO.”
She also participated in the development of industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things revolution, notably managing the digital transformation file at Schneider which was accelerated by the health crisis.
Today, she is appointed head of France’s number 1 telecoms company. She will join the company on April 1 and will succeed Stéphane Richard. The latter was sentenced on Wednesday November 24 to one year in prison and a fine of 50,000 euros, and for good reason, he was accused of complicity in embezzlement of public funds in the Crédit Lyonnais arbitration process, at the end from which Bernard Tapie received some 400 million euros in 2008 (the Tapie-Crédit lyonnais affair). He will have to leave his position in the spring, after a decade at the helm of the former France Télécom.
The major challenges that Christel Heydemann will face at Orange
It is only a matter of time before Christel Heydemann takes the reins of the French telecommunications leader. Social climate, arrival of 5G, shutdown of copper (ADSL), the new leader will be faced with a large number of issues. Christel Heydemann, however, has real expertise and know-how in the field which will allow her to face all of these challenges.
Here are the different challenges that the world of telecommunications, and more particularly Orange, will have to meet:
- The 4G and 5G network : Orange has begun an expansion of its 4G and 5G network with the ambition of almost complete coverage of the territory. The latter technology requires a smoother level of connection.
- The era of copper is over: In parallel with the development of fiber, Orange sees the end of copper fast approaching (network currently used by ADSL). This major transition from copper to fiber is a significant technological and economic change. In fact, Orange rents the copper network to its competitors. However, the latter requires very significant fixed maintenance costs and does not change depending on the number of people using it. Result ? The birth of the dreaded scissors effect: income falls and expenses remain fixed.
- Preservation of the social climate: Orange has started a program to modernize and renovate its organization. In short, this will consist of reducing the group’s support functions and increasing – or maintaining – the forces present on the ground.
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Spain, a country where the crisis is imminent: Competition is formidable in France, but in Spain it is perhaps worse. In 2021, Orange was forced to write down its assets in Spain by 3.7 billion euros and cut nearly 700 jobs. THE Figaro details: “Spain is a stone in Orange’s shoe which has managed its international development rather well, both in Europe and in Africa. But the challenges are no less real. The group dreamed of becoming European champions, but is struggling to establish itself with a slower deployment than expected. »
