EQS-News: freenet AG: Robin Harries becomes new CEO of freenet AG

Büdelsdorf, 27 January 2025 – At its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of freenet AG (ISIN: DE000A0Z2ZZ5) resolved to appoint Robin John Andes Harries as a member of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company with effect from 1 August 2025 at the latest and for a term of three years. This is the Supervisory Board's early response to the announcement by the long-standing CEO, Christoph Vilanek, that he will not renew his contract, which runs until the end of 2025.

The future CEO Robin Harries (42) has been a member of the Management Board of NASDAQ-listed trivago N.V. since April 2024, having already held senior positions for the company from 2012 to 2018. Thanks to his many years of management responsibility as a member of the Executive Board and Managing Director of 1&1 Telecommunication SE and Drillisch Online GmbH from 2018 to 2024, where he was responsible for customer acquisition for all brands and products, Robin Harries not only has excellent knowledge of the mobile communications market, but also extensive expertise in the areas of marketing, sales and digital transformation.

Marc Tüngler, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of freenet AG, emphasizes: "We are both proud and delighted to have won Mr Harries as freenet’s new CEO. Robin John Andes Harries brings with him a wealth of industry-specific and strategic experience that will enable him to develop the company further and make it even more future- and profit-oriented. On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I wish the new CEO every success in developing the company. I would also like to thank Christoph Vilanek for his successful and resilient leadership of the company over the past 16 years. Christoph Vilanek has led the company since 2009, transforming it from a pure mobile service provider into a company with two strong pillars: mobile communications and digital lifestyle services as well as TV and media. The company's earnings have grown sustainably in recent years and the management has set a clear ambition for further growth by 2028. In this respect, the Supervisory Board considers the timing of the handover to be ideal, as the long-term agreements with the three network operators and the sustained growth in the IPTV business provide an extremely solid basis for new impetus and business ideas".

Robin Harries explains: "I am very much looking forward to becoming CEO of freenet AG and returning to the telecommunications industry. I am grateful for the confidence placed in me by the Supervisory Board. freenet is an impressive and broadly based company with exciting prospects for the future. Together with the dedicated team, I look forward to seizing the opportunities and driving the company forward."

Christoph Vilanek adds: "I am delighted that Robin Harries is taking over responsibility for this great company. Along with this joy, I also feel a little melancholy today. freenet has been my home and the centre of my life since 2009 and I will miss everything here."