Chris Gent

Christopher Charles Gent (born May 10, 1948 in Beckenham ) is a British manager . In Germany he was best known in his role as head of the Vodafone group during the takeover battle for Mannesmann AG in 1999/2000.

Life

Christopher Gent started his career in 1967 at the National Westminster Bank . He later went to Schroder Computer Services and ICL.

In 1985 Ghent became Vodafone UK, which he made into a global group with many mobile networks worldwide through numerous company acquisitions. At the general meeting on July 30, 2003, Ghent resigned as CEO of Vodafone, Arun Sarin succeeded him. For his services to the company, Ghent was awarded the honorary title of Company's President for Life . As president for life, he was no longer involved in day-to-day business, but was still able to influence the corporate strategy through his connections to other employees. The power struggle of the “old guard” over Ghent with the new management under Sarin ended in March 2006 when Ghent renounced his title as president for life and withdrew completely from the company.

On June 1, 2004, Ghent became a member of the board of directors of the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline and on January 1, 2005, he became chairman of the board. On May 7, 2015, he was replaced in this capacity by Philip Hampton .

In 2006, Ghent was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bath .

literature

• Sir Chris Gent , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 03/2005 of January 22, 2005, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Gent influence felt by successor BBC News, March 13, 2006.
2. ^ Vodafone boss Gent spreads good news as we leave faz.net, July 28, 2003.
3. ^ Vodafone chief Chris Gent rings off irishtimes.com, July 30, 2003.
4. ↑ Chris Gent is on manager-magazin.de, March 13, 2006.
5. ^ Vodafone's Gent to take over hot seat at Glaxo
6. ↑ GlaxoSmithKline: Annual Report 2015 (PDF), p. 83.