Eutelsat has announced the appointment of Jean-François Fallacher as its new CEO. The appointment was decided at a Board Meeting held on May 4th, upon the recommendation of the Nomination and Governance Committee, and will be effective from June 1st.

Fallacher joins Eutelsat following a lengthy career at Orange where he was latterly EVP and CEO at Orange France. Prior to that, he led Orange’s operations in various countries including Spain, Romania and Poland. Before in his career at Orange, Fallacher held several roles in R&D, sales and operations, including COO of Wanadoo in the Netherlands and CEO of Sofrecom, a consulting company specialising in the telco sector.

Eutelsat said the appointment comes as the company “moves into the next phase after the integration with OneWeb and fully aligned with an IRIS² future”.

Fallacher succeeds Eva Berneke, who has led the company since January 2022. She led Eutelsat through its merger with OneWeb in 2023. Writing on LinkedIn, Berneke said: “Eutelsat is set for a full alignment with a world where Europe is a strong souverain space player and strongly aligned with the telecom connectivity ecosystem. So with Eutelsat’s strategy anchored in the IRIS2 and European souverain future, we look to adjust our governance and shareholder structure, and this has paved the way for our CEO succession, which will unfold during the next month. Jean-Francois Fallacher will join as Eutelsat’s new CEO on June 1, and I will make sure he gets onboarded with our fantastic teams, our cherished customers, strategic suppliers and regulatory partners.”

Dominique D’Hinnin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eutelsat, commented: “On behalf of myself, Vice-Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, and the other members of the Board, I warmly thank Eva Berneke for her dynamic and committed leadership through these significant milestones in Eutelsat’s development and for delivering on our telecoms pivot strategy, in a period that has seen significantly increased competitive and geopolitical pressure. I am delighted to welcome Jean-François Fallacher as he picks up the baton from Eva. With his proven track record of success and wealth of experience and expertise, I am convinced he is the right leader to take Eutelsat forward and successfully steward the company through the opportunities and challenges which will undoubtedly present themselves in the coming years.”

Fallacher added: “I am excited to be joining Eutelsat at such a pivotal moment in its history. Technology is evolving faster than ever, and in today’s increasingly complex geopolitical context, satellite networks have become a key element in the Connectivity landscape. I am convinced Eutelsat has the fundamentals to be a winner in this environment, and I look forward to building on Eva’s foundations, and working with its talented teams to ensure we achieve our goals.”

Eutelsat will release its Q3 2024-25 revenues after market close on May 15th. Ahead of this publication, Eutelsat confirms that the performance for the quarter is expected to be in line with its expectations and confirms its FY 2024-25 objectives of Revenues of the four operating verticals around the same level as FY 2023-24