Born September 28, 1946. A Dutch national, appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company with effect from November 2010. He was President/Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. from April 2001 until March 2011. After holding several positions within Philips since he joined it in 1974, he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Philips’ Components division in 1999 and Executive Vice-President of Philips in 2000. He was appointed Chairman of Vodafone Group plc in July 2011. He is also a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists, Chairman of both IMD’s Foundation Board and Executive Committee, member of the Supervisory Board of De Nederlandsche Bank N.V., Daimler AG, a Director of Dell Inc. and the Chairman of the Foundation of the Cancer Centre Amsterdam.