Cesar Alierta, the Chairman and CEO of Telefonica will be stepping down after 16 years being at the helm of the third largest Operator group in the world. Alierta, 70 has proposed his second man Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, the current Telefonica Chief Operating Officer as his replacement, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Alvarez, 52 joined the operator in 1999 and has been its operating chief since 2012.
Alierta who holds a degree in Economics from Complutense University of Madrid and from the Université Libre in
Belgium will remain in the Board of Directors of Telefónica, a position he holds since 4 years previous to his appointment as Executive Chairman. He will also put his focus on social projects aiming for progress such as Digital Education, and on the Executive Chairmanship of Fundación Telefónica.
Under Alierta´s tenure, Telefónica has moved from being a relevant player in the telecommunication sector in Spain and Latin America to becoming a leader in its key strategic markets: Brazil, Germany, Spain and Latin America.
