- Ericsson (ERIC -1.1%) may be looking outside of telecoms for its new CEO, a source tells Reuters, after the company looks past well-discussed, more obvious candidates.
- That comment came in response to a newspaper column today raising the prospect that Saab chief Hakan Buskhe could be in the running. "I understand there is a person on the short list but that it is not so easy to get the person concerned," the source said.
- CEO Hans Vestberg stepped down in July after key shareholders began pushing for an ouster.
- The conventional-wisdom short list for a replacement points at the company's Australia-based Hakan Eriksson, former company CFO Karl-Henrik Sundstrom and Vodafone CTO Johan Wibergh (also a two-decade Ericsson veteran).
- Meanwhile, the CEO search is the company's top priority, according to Ericsson's biggest shareholder. Johan Forssell, chief of Investor AB, says: “It needs to be a good leader, someone with strategic abilities, considering the large technology shifts that are happening in this industry ... It’s also an advantage to have the ability to understand the technology.”
- Shares are down nearly 25% over the past week.