Helsinki (Finland): Nokia may name India-born Rajeev Suri as its new CEO. Suri at present heads Nokia’s telecom equipment business.
Suri, 46, will succeed Stephen Elop as CEO as he has metamorphozed the network division Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) into a global giant. Through drastic restructuring, he raised its revenues in excess of 11 billion euros in 2013, closing down unprofitable businesses.
Born in 1967, he graduated as an electronics and telecommunications engineer from Mangalore University and is one of the few top bosses in the business world who doesn’t boast of a management degree. Suri is known to be a fitness freak, who hits the gym in his free time, apart from his love for books, music and tennis.
He moved to Nokia in 1995, and had worked with ICL and the RPG Group before. But the testing time came for Suri in the late 2009 when he was appointed CEO of the equipment division, which became Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) in August last year after Nokia bought out Siemen’s partner’s stake.
After Microsoft’s over $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia’s handset business, the Finnish firm is left with the telecom equipment, location-based services and advanced technologies business. Interestingly, both the newly-appointed Microsoft chief Satya Nadella and Suri are Mangalore University graduates.
Since India is emerging as one of the biggest growth market – the country is in transition from 2G networks to 3G and the next-generation 4G – the Indian connection does help.
Suri and his wife Nina are parents to two sons and before settling in Finland, he has lived across many countries that include Kuwait, UK, Nigeria, Germany and Singapore.
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