SES boss Steve Collar steps down

Steve Collar

Satellite operator, SES,  has revealed chief executive officer, Steve Collar, will be stepping down and exiting the company at the end of June 2023.

Collar who was appointed CEO of SES in 2018, leaves to pursue other professional and personal endeavours. Ruy Pinto, chief technology officer has been named as interim CEO while the process of finding Collar’s successor goes underway.

Prior to the acquisition of O3b by SES in 2016, Collar headed both O3b Networks and SES Networks. As CEO of O3b Networks, he led the company through the build and launch of its NGSO satellite constellation.

The exec has also held a variety of commercial, business development and technical roles at SES World Skies, SES New Skies, New Skies Satellites, Astrium, and the former Matra Marconi Space (now Airbus).

Pinto joined SES in February 2017 and was appointed CTO in January 2019, driving the differentiation in multi-orbit capabilities and the cloudification of SES.

“As CEO, Steve successfully steered SES, leaving the business in a strong position for the future with a differentiated multi-orbit capability, world-class set of customer solutions, a simplified and market-centric organisation, and a strong balance sheet set to be further strengthened from the execution of C-band clearing,” said Frank Esser, Chairman of the SES Board of Directors. “The current market environment is rapidly changing, and I welcome Ruy Pinto, who leads over half of the SES workforce today and has substantial industry experience, as we address the challenges and capture further opportunities in the market. The Board has full confidence in Ruy and our management’s engagement on continued strong execution as we embark on a new phase of success for SES.”

Collar commented: “It has been the greatest honour of my life to lead the incredible people at SES. SES has been the benchmark in the industry for decades and I leave the company as its leader and go back to being a huge supporter, admirer and fan and will be cheering Ruy and the Management Team on from the side-lines. With O3b mPOWER launching, the company performing well and C-band all but delivered, the future is bright, and I wish the Board and everyone at SES every success.”