Philips Names New Supervisory Board Chairman

Royal Philips’ management team is about to undergo some changes.

The company is replacing retiring Supervisory Board Chairman Jeroen van der Veer with Feike Sijbesma, effective May 6 (annual shareholders meeting). Sijbesma has been a member of the board for the past year, serving as vice-chairman; van der Veer has served three consecutive terms, first joining the governing body in 2009. He’s been chairman since 2011.

“I consider it a privilege to have served three terms on the Supervisory Board of Philips, ten years of which as Chairman,” said van der Veer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Royal Philips. “I will hand over the reins to my successor Feike Sijbesma to lead the Board’s supervisory role as Philips delivers on its purpose of improving people’s health and well-being through meaningful innovation.”

Succeeding Sijbesma as vice-chairman is Paul Stoffels, who’s been a board member since 2018.

Two new members are proposed for appointment to the Supervisory Board as well: Chua Sock Koong and Indra Nooyi. 

Koong is being recommended for the board due to her in-depth knowledge of information technology and digitalization. She is the former CEO of Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel), Asia’s leading communications technology group. During her tenure as Singtel CEO from 2007 till 2020, Koong extended the company’s footprint to 21 countries, including Singapore, Australia, India, and Indonesia, and led Singtel’s digital transformation. This included the digitalization of its core telecom business and the growth of new digital businesses. Prior to her appointment as CEO of Singtel, Koong held various executive leadership positions, including the role of chief financial officer.
 
Nooyi is the former chair and CEO of PepsiCo, a global food and beverages company with operations in more than 180 countries. She was the chief architect of PepsiCo’s “Performance with Purpose” pledge, and successfully delivered sustained growth by improving the nutritional value of the company’s products, limiting its environmental footprint, and empowering its associates and the people in the communities it serves.
 
Current Vice-Chairwoman Christine Poon is retiring from the Supervisory Board following the completion of her third consecutive term. In addition to the retirement of van der Veer and Poon, Orit Gadiesh will step down from Philips’ Supervisory Board, after serving since 2014.
 
Philips’ Supervisory Board will also propose the reappointment of Marnix van Ginneken as a member of the Philips Board of Management. Van Ginneken is Philips’ chief legal officer, and his reappointment is recommended in view of his broad knowledge of Philips and his extensive international corporate governance expertise, as well as the important role he has played in the Executive Committee since 2014.
 
“I am very pleased that Marnix remains available as a member of the Board of Management and as chief legal officer,” said van der Veer. “Providing valuable contributions on a wide array of subjects he has been instrumental in, among other things, managing Philips’ legal affairs, intellectual property and government affairs, and guiding execution of Philips’ strategic agenda and improvement of the company’s operational excellence.”
 
“On behalf of the Executive Committee and the Supervisory Board, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Jeroen van der Veer for his invaluable advice and partnership during Philips’ transformation into a health technology leader,” said Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips. “I am also very grateful for the long-term counsel of Christine Poon during this important time, and would like to thank Orit Gadiesh for her much-valued support serving on the board. At the same time, we are pleased that Indra Nooyi and Chua Sock Koong are available to join as new members. As recognized global business leaders with deep expertise in areas ranging from sustainability to digitalization, their experience will be highly valuable as we progress on our journey to lead the transformation of healthcare with integrated solutions. We are also pleased to welcome Feike Sijbesma in his new role as Chairman. I look forward to continuing our mission to grow Philips together, aiming to improve the lives of 2 billion people a year by 2025.”