Retail boss quits after only two months.
Karsten Wildberger who became head of retail for Telstra’s has quit the company after less than two months in the job and will return home to Germany in mid-2016.
Wildberger had replaced Gordon Ballantyne the company’s retail group executive in October and had been a senior executive of Telstra’s consumer division since January 2013. Previously he had worked with Deutsche Telekom and been a Boston Consulting Group. His role was seen as critical because the retail division generated 65% of Telstra’s revenue in the year ended June 30.
But on Friday morning Telstra issued a statement saying Wildberger was quitting for personal reasons and taking up an position outside of the telecommunications industry.
However, Wildberger’s departure marks several high-profile executive changes since Telstra’s previous chief executive, David Thodey, stepped down in May. First, Ballantyne, who was once seen as the most likely replacement as CEO for Thodey, quit the company in October, its head of international, Tim Chen, quit in July and Telstra’s most senior financial executive, Robert Nason, left in April.
Then in November, three of Telstra’s top media executives left the company as part of moves by chief marketing officer Joe Pollard to refresh the team.