The EADS Board of Directors will combine the election of new CEOs, the approval of the company's future structure and the nominations for the Executive Committee into one decision. The newly appointed Board, headed by re-elected Chairmen Dr. Manfred Bischoff and Arnaud Lagardère, met on Wednesday immediately after EADS’ Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in Amsterdam and agreed to decide on these major strategic issues for the future of EADS until June 1. Until then, the Chairmen Bischoff and Lagardère will temporarily take responsibility.
The designated CEOs Tom Enders (46) and Noël Forgeard (58) will propose to the EADS Board a new Executive Committee to lead the company’s business operations. Following this, Enders and Forgeard will be elected as Chief Executive Officers of EADS and will assume their new positions for a five-year term. For the time being they remain in their current roles: Enders is heading EADS’ Defence and Security Systems Division, and Forgeard is heading Airbus.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2004, EADS generated revenues of € 31.8 billion and employed a workforce of about 110,000. The EADS Group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the international leader in missile systems. EADS is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is the largest industrial partner for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.
