From Telkom to the world
Telkom’s then CEO, Brian Clark, did not wait to find out if the man was right. He resigned and took up a job at global mobile phone operator, Vodafone
The abrupt nature of Clark’s departure has long fuelled talk that he was pushed out by SBC so that it could get its own people in place.
Clark denies this. “I was asked to stay, but at that stage wanted to do something different.”
He says the chance to work for a multinational company in the middle of the telecom sector boom was an opportunity he could not pass up.
When asked what he thinks of Telkom’s current travails, Clark says he does not pay much attention to his former employer. He says he used to follow developments in the local sector but can no longer be considered an expert on local issues.
He became a member of Vodafone’s global executive team and headed its Australian operations for five years.
Clark later got a big promotion to head Vodafone’s business in Asia Pacific, where he was responsible for the group’s operations, stretching from India to Japan, for two years. For this he moved to Japan at an exciting time in the sector.
He was part of a group that looked at how new technologies like cameras would be combined with phones. At one stage, China Mobile (a Vodafone company) was signing up the equivalent of Telkom’s 4m subscription base every month.
Clark recalls how video conferencing was tested at 200km/h on a bullet train between Kyoto and Tokyo.
After two years in Japan he moved to London, where he headed the human resources development department.
A year ago, Clark decided it was time to leave the daily grind of the corporate world and retired to Sydney, Australia. He now spends his time entertaining his grandchildren and mentoring youngsters who want to run their own businesses.
But this does not mean he is lost to the business world. He recently joined the boards of finance company AMP, construction materials provider Boral and Merrill Lynch in Australia.
Clark likes the combination of leisure and constructive activity. “I’m following the new path for retirement,” he says.
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