KEY POINTS:
Telecom has begun the search for a new chief executive following Theresa Gattung's announcement today to leave the company at the end of June.
Company chairman Wayne Boyd said said a search for a new CEO would start immediately and candidates would be sought from within the company and from New Zealand, Australia and globally.
Boyd hinted today at the possibility the new chief executive would come from within the Telecom ranks and he was meeting with internal candidates this afternoon.
Anyone taking on the role would be based in Auckland according to comments by Boyd today.
He added that this didn't signal a head office shift from its current base in Wellington.
So who are the people tipped to succeed Gattung?
Marko Bogoievski:
Marko Bogoievski (pronounced Bog-o-ev-ski) is widely touted as a likely successor to Gattung.
He joined Telecom in March 2000 when he was appointed chief financial officer.
Prior to that he held the same role for United States start-up company Dispatch Management Services.
Bogoievski has also been chief financial officer for Ansett New Zealand and before that was finance director, then sales director, of New Zealand Wines and Spirits.
In an interview with the Herald in 2004 Bogoievski said that there were no self-indulgent hobbies to fill his weekends. Spare time is spent with his two boys.
Bogoievski maintains an interest in horse-racing, something he has in common with Gattung, and occasionally gets on to the golf course.
A New Zealander, Bogoievski, is the son of Yugoslav and Greek parents who grew up in Petone.
He is a Victoria University graduate with a BCA in economics and accounting, and an MBA from Harvard.
Kevin Kenrick:
Chief operating officer of Telecom's consumer business Kevin Kenrick is also expected to throw his hat in the ring.
Kenrick was appointed to his current position in April last year, but has held marketing positions within the company since 1999.
Currently he has responsibility for the product development, marketing, sales and service functions for both fixed and mobile for consumer customers.
Prior to joining Telecom, Kenrick had various senior marketing roles with a number of New Zealand's leading corporate organisations, including Air New Zealand, Lion Nathan and Carter Holt Harvey and spent a period working for British Telecom in the United Kingdom.
Like Gattung, he attending Waikato University, graduating with a Bachelor of Management Studies.
Tim Miles:
Tim Miles was managing director of Vodafone New Zealand from 2001 until 2005 when he left the New Zealand arm of the company to head up Vodafone UK.
Miles was then appointed global chief technology officer of Vodafone Group plc in April 2006.
However, he left the role last August and was on a plane back to New Zealand with his family.
He was appointed an independent director of Macquarie Goodman Property Trust in January.
Prior to joining Vodafone, he held executive positions with Unisys Corporation, USA and, before that, Data General and IBM.
David Thodey:
Telstra's managing director for enterprise and government is also chairman of TelstraClear in New Zealand.
He was widely tipped as one of the front-runners to replace Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski in 2005.
The top job went instead to Sol Trujillo in July 2005.
Before joining Telstra, Mr Thodey was chief executive officer of IBM Australia/New Zealand and previously held several senior executive marketing and sales positions within IBM.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and English from Victoria University in New Zealand.
David Kirk:
Captain of the World Cup winning All Blacks in 1987, David Kirk has remained at the top of his game.
Appointed as chief executive of media company Fairfax Holdings in 2005 after a protracted executive search, Kirk has managed the acquisition of Trade Me and the merger of Fairfax and Rural Press.
A qualified doctor, Kirk left New Zealand to study at Oxford at the end of his rugby career in 1987.
He returned to coach the Wellington NPC team in 1993 and 1994. Kirk was also a staffer for Prime Minister Jim Bolger in the 1990s before moving into the corporate world.
Kirk has held executive positions with Fletcher Paper, Norske Skog and PMP, Australia's largest printer.
Wellington-born Kirk is married with three boys and lives in Sydney.
