Vodafone picks Microsoft's Pilar Lopez as next CFO after Mucic exit
Vodafone Group Plc
has appointed Pilar Lopez as its new chief financial officer. She will formally take charge in December after the planned departure of current CFO
Luka Mucic
, who announced his exit last month.
Lopez will join Vodafone in October as
CFO
designate and will take over fully once Mucic departs on November 30, according to a company statement on Thursday. Lopez is currently with
Microsoft
Corp., where she has held a range of senior positions, including chief operating officer for Western Europe and country lead for Spain.
Vodafone
said in the statement that she had also spent 16 years with Spanish telecoms group Telefónica, working in various finance and senior leadership roles before moving to Microsoft.
"She has deep-rooted knowledge of both the telecoms and technology sectors, across a range of international leadership positions," Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle said.
Mucic is leaving Vodafone to head Vonovia SE, which is Germany's largest landlord.
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He was appointed as
Vodafone CFO
in 2023. Before that, he held the same position for nearly a decade at the German software group SAP SE, where he began his professional career. Vodafone Chief Executive Officer Margherita Della Valle had picked Mucic as she began a significant turnaround effort at the company.
Since joining Vodafone, Mucic oversaw the sale of underperforming assets in Spain and Italy. He also helped secure regulatory approval for Vodafone's planned merger with CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.'s Three unit in the UK.
When the company lost a large number of customers in its biggest market following a legal change in Germany, Mucic said he personally went door to door in an effort to win subscribers back.
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