CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Following the admission to trading of its shares on the NYSE Euronext Paris market in December 2005, Eutelsat Communications has implemented internal control procedures intended to prevent and reduce risk resulting from the Company’s business activities, as well as accounting and financial risks, in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable to listed companies.
The Group’s Board of Directors complies with the guidelines of the AFEP-MEDEF Code.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chaired by Dominique d'Hinnin, the Eutelsat Communications Board of Directors is made up of 10 members, 60% of whom are women and 70% of whom are independent Directors. There are three different nationalities.
A seat of Board censeur is occupied permanently by the Executive Secretary of the EUTELSAT Intergovernmental Organization. Two representatives of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) of the Company’s operating subsidiary, Eutelsat S.A., participate in Board meetings as observers.
Selected for their knowledge, integrity, independent spirit and their determination to serve the interests of all shareholders, Board members reflect a diverse range of experience, nationalities and cultures. They are committed to vigilant corporate governance, best practices, risk management and compliance.
* Independent Directors
Dominique d'Hinnin*
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Chairman of the Nomination and Governance Committee
Chairman of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee
Member of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee
Dominique D'Hinnin was appointed independent Chairman of Eutelsat Communications S.A. on November 8, 2017 and has been a member of the Board since November 4, 2016.
Dominique D’Hinnin is a graduate of the École normale supérieure and a former Inspecteur des finances. He spent much of his career at the Lagardère Group where he joined in 1990 as an advisor to Philippe Camus. He was then appointed Director of Internal Audit and CFO of Hachette Livre in 1993, and in 1994, Executive Vice President of Grolier, Inc. (Connecticut, USA). He was Lagardère CFO from 1998 to 2009, and Lagardère SCA Co-managing Partner from 2009 to 2016. He is a former Board Member of Airbus, Canal+, Spanish media company PRISA and U.S. company, Golden Falcon Acquisition Corp., as well as former Advisory Board Member of PricewaterhouseCoopers France.
Dominique D’Hinnin is currently also Board Member of the French Company Edenred, of the French company Vantiva and of the Belgian distribution company Louis Delhaize SA.
Dominique D’Hinnin, born on August 4, 1959, is a French national.
Eva Berneke
Chief Executive Officer
Board Member
Eva Berneke joined Eutelsat on 1st January 2022 as Chief Executive Officer. She is also a member of the Board.
Eva brings considerable experience of the Telecoms and Technology industries. She joins Eutelsat from KMD, Denmark's leading IT and software company, specialising in IT solutions and services for the public and private sector, and now part of the NEC Group. During her tenure she oversaw the transformation of KMD from a mainly government service provider to a modern, digital company competing in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to that Eva held several senior positions at TDC, formerly TeleDanmark, the largest telecommunications company in Denmark, notably as Head of Strategy and Head of the company’s Wholesale and Business divisions. Eva began her career at McKinsey where she developed a specialization in the TMT sectors and where she was based for 10 years at the group’s Paris offices.
Eva sits on the Boards of international groups Lego and Vestas Wind Systems as well as France’s Ecole Polytechnique. She is a graduate of Denmark’s Technical University, where she gained a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, and holds an MBA from INSEAD.
Bpifrance Investissement, represented by Paul-François Fournier
Board Member
Member of the Nomination and Governance Committee
Bpifrance Investissement is represented by Paul-François Fournier, Director of Innovation and Executive Committee Member of Banque Publique d’Investissement (Bpifrance), since April 2013.
Paul-François Fournier spent nearly 20 years at Group Orange. A graduate of Telecom ParisTech, he began his career at France Télécom Orange in 1994 as a business engineer in the France Business sector. After seven years working in the development of corporate services, in 2001, he became Broadband Director of Wanadoo where he ensured the take-off of ADSL offers in France, which rose from a few thousand customers in 2001 to more than 3 million by the end of 2004, then internationally as a member of the Executive Board of the Wanadoo Group. He then oversaw strategic projects like the launch of Livebox and Voice Over IP, in partnership with the French start-ups Inventel and Netcentrex. In addition to his experience in the field of internet services and partnerships (he was, for instance, the architect of the acquisition by Orange of Dailymotion and Cityvox, as well as partnership agreements between Orange and Microsoft, Google and Facebook), he has excellent operational knowledge of marketing innovation. He was, from 2011, Executive Director of Orange’s Technocentre, in charge of product innovation (Box, Cloud, etc.), where he radically transformed the organization to a more regional and decentralized approach (creating the Technocentres in Amman and Abidjan).
Paul-François Fournier, born March 15, 1968, is a French national.
Bpifrance Participations, represented by Samuel Dalens
Board Member
Member of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee
Bpifrance Participations (since July 12, 2013, formerly Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement – FSI) is represented by Samuel Dalens, Investment Director at Bpifrance in the Large Cap team, investing in mid-sized and large companies. Samuel has fourteen years of experience in finance and private equity. Prior to joining Bpifrance in 2012, Samuel worked in the French administration, for 2 years at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then for 4 years at the Ministry of Finance (at the Budget Office, then at the Shareholding Agency). Samuel graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and from Telecom Paris (he is an ingénieur des Mines).
Samuel Dalens is currently Director of Soitec and of Crouzet, Financial Controller at the Supervisory Board of STMicroelectronics, member of the Supervisory Board at STMicroelectronics Holding, and member of the Supervisory Board of Chrome Topco (Cerba Healthcare).
Samuel Dalens, born on January 15, 1983, is a French national.
CMA-CGM, represented by Michel Sirat*
Board Member
Member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee
Michel Sirat joined CMA-CGM in 2011 as Group Executive VP & Chief Financial Officer. Since 2023, he holds the position of Group Executive VP Strategy & M&A. Previously, he was General Manager, Trading and Portfolio Management, Europe at GDF SUEZ (now Engie) and CEO of SUEZ Energy Resources North America. He is a former French Treasury official and former Alternate Executive Director for France at the IMF. Michel Sirat is a former independent Director of Futuren SA (a subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelle. He is a graduate of Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, Ecole Centrale de Paris and École Nationale d'Administration (ENA).
Michel Sirat, born on May 13, 1961, is a French national.
FSP*, represented by Agnès Audier
Board Member
Chair of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee
Member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Fonds Stratégique de Participations (FSP) is a long-term equity investor in French companies, backed by six major French insurance companies (BNP Paribas Cardif, CNP Assurances, Crédit Agricole Assurances through its subsidiary Predica, Sogécap (Société Générale Group), Groupama et Natixis Assurances).
FSP is currently represented by Agnès Audier.
Agnès Audier is a former student of École normale supérieure, an Engineer (Ingénieure en chef du Corps des Mines), a scientist by training and a graduate of SciencesPo. From 1993 to 1995, she was technical advisor to the Minister of Social Affairs of Health and the Urban Policy, Ms Simone Veil. From 1995 to 1997, she was Head of the Private Office for the Minister of Small Businesses and Retail, Mr Jean‑Pierre Raffarin who was subsequently appointed as Prime Minister. From 1997 to 2001, she was Senior Vice President for Strategy and Business Development for the Générale des Eaux Group (which became Vivendi and then Vivendi Universal) and Secretary of the Executive Committee of Vivendi Group. She was then appointed CEO of VivendiNet, Vivendi Universal’s Internet and Technology Division. From 2003 to 2006, she was Executive Vice President and Chief Performance Officer for Havas Group, a leading global advertising and communications group. In 2007, she joined BCG (Boston Consulting group) where she was member of the Western Europe and Latin America Management Committee and was elected Partner and Managing Director in 2008.
Agnès Audier is currently also, since October 2019, an independent consultant on issues of digital transformation and data and Senior Advisor at BCG. In addition, she is Board Member of Worldline, Board Member of Group Crédit Agricole, member of the Think Tank CosmiCapital’s Strategic Committee, and pro bono Chairman of the Board of SOS Seniors, a French NGO dedicated to elderly care, and of Impact Tank.
Agnès Audier, born November 3, 1964, is a French national.
Esther Gaide*
Board Member
Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee
Esther Gaide is a graduate of ESSEC and a chartered accountant. She began her career in 1983 in the external audit departments of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Paris and London and then with Deloitte in Paris and the USA. In 1994, she joined Bolloré Group as Group Internal Audit Director where she set up the internal audit department participating in the reorganization of the maritime department and the takeover of the Rivaud Group. Between 1996 and 2006, she successively held the positions of CFO of the Bolloré Logistics Division, CFO of the Bolloré Africa Logistics Division and ultimately Group Director of Controlling, in charge of the accounting, consolidation and control. In 2006, she joined Havas to then become Deputy CFO and HR Director. In 2011, she joined Technicolor (ex-Thomson) as Group Director of Controlling supervising accounting, consolidation and control. In 2012, she was appointed Deputy CFO before becoming, in 2015, CFO and member of the Executive Committee of Technicolor. She was CFO of Elior Group from 2018 to 2023. She is currently also a Board Member of Illiad, a telecommunications provider.
Esther Gaide, born September 6, 1961, is a French national.
Cynthia Gordon*
Board Member
Member of the Nomination and Governance Committee
Member of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee
Cynthia Gordon, a graduate of University of Brighton, has more than 30 years of experience in the telecom and digital sector across Europe, MENA and Asia.
She is the Chair of Global Fashion Group, a listed pure play digital e-commerce business serving a market of more than one billion customers across Latin America, CIS, South East Asia and Australia and Board Member of Bodycote, a thermal processing service provider.
She was Board Member of Kinnevik AB, one of Europe’s largest industry-focused investment companies, of MIMA Mobile and of Tele2 and previously held senior leadership positions at Orange, Millicom and Ooredoo.
Cynthia Gordon, born on 17 November 1962, is a British national.
Florence Parly*
Board Member
Member of the Nomination and Governance Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
As a former Minister of the Armed Forces (2017-2022), Junior Minister for the Budget (2000-2002), and Vice President of the Bourgogne Regional Council, Florence Parly has extensive experience in policy and government. Throughout her career, Florence has led essential lines of work in economics, employment, infrastructure, housing, social security and more. She has also served in senior roles in major French industrial and transport corporations, having served as Director General of SNCF Voyageurs and Deputy Director General of Air France. She has a significant corporate governance experience as an independent board member at Altran Technologies, Ingenico, Zodiac Aerospace. She recently joined as independent Board member Newcleo, IPSOS and is a member of the Supervisory Board of Caisse des Dépôts and is Chair of the Board of Directors of the French Conservatoire national des arts et métiers. Florence Parly is a graduate of the Institut d'études politiques de Paris and former student of the Ecole nationale d'administration.
Florence Parly, born on 8 May 1963, is a French national.
Fleur Pellerin*
Board Member
Member of the Nomination and Governance Committee
Member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee
Fleur Pellerin has solid experience and expertise in the fields of media, telecommunications and high technology. In 2012, Fleur Pellerin was appointed to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault’s Government as Minister of SMEs, Innovation and the Digital Economy. During this time, she strove to make digital a key focus launching the “FrenchTech” movement and carried out various tax and regulatory reforms to support entrepreneurship and investment in France. In 2014, she became Secretary of State for Foreign Trade and Tourism and then Minister for Culture and Communication the same year. In 2016 Fleur Pellerin left government and founded Korelya Capital, a Paris based venture capital fund whose mission is to invest in European fast-growing high-tech startups. Korelya has now 750M€+ under management in 9 European countries. A former independent Director at Schneider Electric and Talan she is currently independent Director at KLM, Gaumont and Stanhope Capital Partners. She also chairs the mission committee (“Comité de Mission”) of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale since January 2022. She is a former member of the French Court of Auditors and a graduate of ESSEC business school, Sciences Po and the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA).
Fleur Pellerin, born on August 29, 1973, is a French national.
Piotr Dmochowski-Lipski
“Censeur” & Executive Secretary of EUTELSAT IGO
Piotr Dmochowski-Lipski is the Executive Secretary of the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization, EUTELSAT IGO, an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Paris. In March 2021, the Assembly of Parties of EUTELSAT IGO reelected Mr. Piotr Dmochowski-Lipski of Poland to the post of Executive Secretary for a second four-year term beginning on July 2, 2021. In February 2018, he was appointed Commissioner of the United Nation’s Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.
He started his career as a journalist for Radio Free Europe in New York, followed by work as a consultant for Coopers and Lybrand in Boston and Manager at KPMG in Washington. Since then he has worked internationally in senior management positions in financial services, media, telecommunications and government services. Immediately prior to assuming his post at the head of EUTELSAT IGO, he was the CEO of PCG Polska, a subsidiary of Boston-based Public Consulting Group, Inc. His other experiences include positions as CFO of Polska Telewizja Kablowa (today UPC Poland), CFO of TVP S.A. – Poland’s National Public Television and Director General of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Piotr Dmochowski-Lipski also represented the Polish Government at the European Space Agency (ESA) in Paris, the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) in Washington as well as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Program Board of the European Commission in Brussels. He has also served on several corporate boards of private and public corporations and completed a course for non-executive corporate directors at Stanford University. He holds a Masters in Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an MBA with honors from Boston University.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Eutelsat Communications Executive Committee's members define and execute the Group's strategy whose principal directions are reviewed by the Board of Directors.
Eva Berneke
Chief Executive Officer
Board Member
Eva Berneke joined Eutelsat on 1st January 2022 as Chief Executive Officer. She is also a member of the Board.
Eva brings considerable experience of the Telecoms and Technology industries. She joins Eutelsat from KMD, Denmark's leading IT and software company, specialising in IT solutions and services for the public and private sector, and now part of the NEC Group. During her tenure she oversaw the transformation of KMD from a mainly government service provider to a modern, digital company competing in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to that Eva held several senior positions at TDC, formerly TeleDanmark, the largest telecommunications company in Denmark, notably as Head of Strategy and Head of the company’s Wholesale and Business divisions. Eva began her career at McKinsey where she developed a specialization in the TMT sectors and where she was based for 10 years at the group’s Paris offices.
Eva sits on the Boards of international groups Lego and Vestas Wind Systems as well as France’s Ecole Polytechnique. She is a graduate of Denmark’s Technical University, where she gained a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, and holds an MBA from INSEAD.
David Bertolotti
David Bertolotti, member of the Group’s Executive Committee, serves as Company Secretary since December 2022. He is in charge of the Institutional and International Affairs department, the Group's Legal department, Corporate Governance, Compliance and External Communications as well as Risk and Safety Management.
David Bertolotti had held the position of Director of Institutional and International Affairs at Eutelsat since 2020.
Graduate of the French Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA, class of René Cassin) and of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (IEP), David served for 17 years as a diplomat with the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and was in particular ambassador to Jordan. His areas of expertise include political-military issues, notably in the nuclear field, and the Middle East region.
Anne Carron
Anne Carron joined Eutelsat in 2021, as Chief Human Resources Officer.
During an extensive and diverse career, she has supported the growth and transformation of companies; first as a Corporate and M&A lawyer at Linklaters, and subsequently within the Carrefour Group in the posts of Deputy Legal Director and latterly Human Resources Director. Anne was instrumental in enhancing the operational performance of Carrefour by leveraging HR strategies to reinforce the customer mind-set across the teams, support digitization and accompany the evolution of the company towards greater agility and collaboration. She left Carrefour to found the consultancy HR Mobiliwork, offering HR services aimed at developing the collaboration between large groups and start-ups.
Anne is a graduate in Business Administration of the ESSEC Business School, and obtained a Certificate in Artificial Intelligence from the MIT Sloan School of Management. She is also a member of the Paris Bar and an INSEAD Certified Director.
Christophe Caudrelier
Christophe Caudrelier joined Eutelsat as Chief Financial Officer, in December 2022.
Christophe joins Eutelsat from Tikehau Ace Capital Partners where he served as Operating Partner - Finance. Before joining Tikehau Ace Capital, Christophe, who started his career as an external auditor with Arthur Andersen, spent 17 years at Valeo where he held various positions in the US, Turkey, and the UK, including CFO of the Powertrain Systems Business Group before joining Naval Group as Group CFO in 2011. In 2015, he was appointed as CFO of the Bénéteau Group, and later COO in charge of finance and operational excellence.
Christophe is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (ESCP) Europe.
Laurence Delpy
General Manager of the Video Business Unit
Laurence Delpy joined Eutelsat as General Manager of the Video Business Unit and member of the Executive Committee in September 2022. She brings with her an in-depth experience in business leadership in the Telecom industry, in both Asia and Europe.
She joins Eutelsat from Palo Alto Networks, a global cybersecurity leader, where she led their EMEA Service Providers business. Prior to that, Laurence managed Nokia’s mobile network business for the Asia-Pacific region and Japan, where she lived and worked for 25 years.
From 2012 to 2016, Laurence served as Vice President of Alcatel-Lucent’s mobile business in Asia and Deputy Vice President of the network business in China within their joint venture, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell. From 2010 to 2012 she was Vice President and General Manager of the GSM product line. Prior to that, she held several sales positions in Telstra, Alcatel and Alcatel-Alstom in Australia, South Asia and France.
Laurence is an Independent Director of Soitec, an international company specialised in generating and manufacturing high performance semiconductor materials. She graduated from the École supérieure de gestion in Paris, France and holds a degree in Business Administration. She also holds a certificate in general administration from INSEAD in Singapore.
Cyril Dujardin
General Manager of the Connectivity Business Unit
Cyril Dujardin was appointed General Manager of Eutelsat's Connectivity Business Unit (BU) in 2022 and is a member of the Group's Executive Committee.
Before joining Eutelsat, Cyril Dujardin was SVP, Deputy Head of the Big Data & Security business line at Atos, after heading its cybersecurity and mission critical systems operations.
With a track record of more than 20 years in high-growth technology industries, Cyril Dujardin has run complex organisations experiencing various business cycles.
He also brings a strong international culture, having served as Managing Director of Sagem's Australian subsidiary and subsequently managed over 6,000 employees in some 40 countries.
Cyril Dujardin is a French national and a former auditor of the French Institute of Defence Studies (IHEDN). He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ponts ParisTech.
Pascal Homsy
Pascal Homsy joined Eutelsat in December 2020 from Thales Alenia Space, where he was head of the Space Telecommunications Business Line. He brings with him some 30 years’ experience of senior management positions within major international groups, notably the telecoms conglomerate, Alcatel/Lucent/Nokia and the IT Services leader, Atos.
A seasoned Chief Technical Officer, Pascal has headed teams specialised in IP Platforms, Voice and Services, Fixed Networks, Broadband Wireless and Mobile Networks. In addition, he brings end-to-end knowledge of our value chain, having served in several Global Account Management and Sales Support roles at Alcatel, where he was notably in charge of the relationship with Orange.
Pascal also has considerable international experience, having spent the early part of his career in charge of Alcatel’s activities in numerous APAC markets, and subsequently holding responsibility for EMEA in various technology and commercial roles.
A French national, Pascal holds a Master of Sciences from Telecom Paris Tech.
Arlen Kassighian
Arlen Kassighian is Chief Engineering officer as of July 1st 2023 and is a member of the Group’s Executive Committee.
Arlen brings with him a wealth of experience in the space industry and operations. Arlen joined Eutelsat on 1 April 2001. He joined Eutelsat from Alcatel Space (now Thales Alenia Space) where he led the design and development of satellite observation payloads. Arlen has contributed to the design and deployment of most of Eutelsat’s satellites over the last 22 years, accompanying the many technological advances made by the space industry during this period. Based in California for 9 years, Arlen established Eutelsat’s procurement line from the US space industry and earned a globally recognised expertise. In the 2010s, working in the Silicon Valley ecosystem enabled him to closely observe the transformational changes in the space industry with the emergence of constellations and new generation space solutions.
On his return to Eutelsat headquarters, Arlen headed the Satellite Engineering & Operations organisation. From July 1st onwards, he became responsible for the End to End Engineering and Systems department (Space & Ground segments).
Arlen holds a degree in engineering physics from INP PHELMA in Grenoble, France. He also holds a DEA (postgraduate degree) in optics, optoelectronics and microwaves.
He is recognised throughout the industry for his extensive field experience and impressive network across the entire value chain: manufacturers, launchers, the full range of players in the ecosystem, including NewSpace start-ups, etc. He also stands out for his visionary skills and his passion for innovation which have been the driving force behind his many successful achievements in space technologies.
Jean-Hubert Lenotte
Jean-Hubert Lenotte joined Eutelsat in September 2013, as the Group’s Director of Strategy, and became a member of the Executive Committee in 2016 as Director of Strategy and Strategic Marketing.
In June 2019, he also took charge of the Deployment Department and is responsible for Eutelsat’s satellite fleet, frequency management, resource planning and innovation. This newly revamped department is now known as the Strategy and Resources Department.
Jean-Hubert began his career at Bouygues where he was notably part of the project team that created Bouygues Telecom in 1994. He joined McKinsey & Company in Paris in 1997 and was elected Partner in 2004. In 2009, he headed the Consumer Service Line of McKinsey & Company in the global telecommunications, media and technology practice.
A Belgian national, he is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and holds a Masters degree in Economy and Finance from the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris.
Natale Lettieri
In his capacity as Chief Transformation Officer of Eutelsat, Natale Lettieri is responsible for coordinating the implementation of a number of programmes aimed at reforming the Group's business models.
With a degree in telecommunications from the University of Naples, Natale started his career at Eutelsat as a DVB systems engineer before joining Skylogic, a Eutelsat subsidiary, in 2005. He has been Chief Service Operations Officer since 2020.
CAPITAL STRUCTURE
Eutelsat Communications is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A., the leading European satellite operator and one of the three top operators in the world.
