BT CEO Patterson Ousted Amid Investor Backlash Over New Strategy

BT Group abruptly pushed out CEO Gavin Patterson after the board and investors lost faith in his turnaround plan for the former phone monopoly, according to Bloomberg.

Patterson will step down later this year when a successor is in place, likely in the second half, BT said in a statement. The board has started a search for his replacement, the company said.

The departure marks an about-face by a board now bowing to shareholder pressure for fresh blood at the top. Patterson has been seeking to reboot BT since a profit warning early last year and told investors in May that it will take until 2021 for a return to profit growth, as the company launches into a reorganization including thousands of job cuts.

Chairman Jan du Plessis, who had backed Patterson at last month’s strategy update, said shareholders had convinced him the executive’s time was up, even as the board is still “fully supportive“ of the business plan. “The broader reaction to our recent results announcement has though demonstrated to Gavin and me that there is a need for a change of leadership to deliver this strategy,“ du Plessis said.

Deutsche Telekom, BT’s largest shareholder with a 12 percent stake, has grown increasingly dissatisfied with Patterson’s performance over the past year, partly because of blunders like an accounting scandal in Italy, according to a person familiar with the situation. The German carrier is hoping for a replacement with a proven track record of turning around companies and who is able to tackle shifts affecting the industry.