Who is Allison Kirkby; the new CEO of BT and the company’s first female CEO - net worth, previous roles

British telecommunications giant BT has announced the appointment of Allison Kirkby as their new CEO, taking over from current CEO, Philip Jansen, towards the late end of January 2024. In appointing her, Kirkby becomes the first female CEO of BT since its formation in 1980.

Kikrby has been a Non-Executive Director at BT Group since 2019 and is also a Non-Executive Director and member of the Audit Committee of Brookfield Asset Management Limited. Jansen will continue his role and will be available to support the handover until the end of March 2024, at which point he intends to retire from executive life.

Adam Crozier, BT Group Chairman said: “The Board is delighted to have appointed Allison as our new Chief Executive. She is a proven leader, with deep sector experience and a history of having transformed businesses. I look forward to supporting her as we drive our long-term strategy to transform BT Group, ensuring it delivers for all our stakeholders.”

Speaking about her appointment to the role, Kirkby was quoted in the press release regarding the announcement saying “I’m incredibly honoured to have been appointed as the next Chief Executive of BT Group. BT is such an important company for the UK, and our many customers both in the UK and internationally and is uniquely placed to help everyone benefit from the rapid advances in digitalisation.” 

“Having been a member of the BT Group Board for the past four years, I’m fully supportive of our strategy and am excited about leading it into its next phase of development, as we grow to support customers, shareholders and the UK economy.”

Who is Allison Kirkby?

Allison Kirkby was born in July 1957 and trained as an accountant at Glasgow Caledonian University in Glasgow, UK 1985–1987 and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in London 1988–1990, before embarking on her extensive body of work in the telecommunications and media industry. 

She has been the President & CEO of Telia Company, a digital communications and telecommunications provider serving 25 million customers in the Nordic and Baltic region, since early 2020. Before joining Telia, Kirkby worked in various leadership roles in the TMT (Technology, Media, and Telecommunications) sector. 

She served as President & CEO of TDC, the largest telecommunications company in Denmark, and also as President & CEO of Tele2 AB, a major challenger telecommunications company in Sweden and the Baltics. Prior to her TMT career, she held financial and operational roles at Procter & Gamble for two decades.

According to Simply Wall Street, Kirkby took home an annual salary of £1.9 million GBP during her tenure with Telia and is expected to take home a base salary of £1.1 million when she joins BT in 2024.