Philips Names Van Houten New CEO as of April 2011
Van Houten, 50, will replace Gerard Kleisterlee, Bloomberg News reported. Van Houten was a member of the Philips management board until 2006, and led the spinoff of the company's semiconductor business.
"It's a solid appointment," Joost de Graaf, a senior portfolio manager who helps oversee about $700 million at Kempen & Co NV in Amsterdam, told Bloomberg News. "He knows Philips well and has a lot of experience in different fields."
Van Houten joined Philips in 1986, working in several different positions within the company, including co-head of consumer electronics and CEO of semiconductors.
Kleisterlee, 63, has worked at the company for over 30 years and will retire.