BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : FEBRUARY 7, 2000 ISSUE
BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- SPECIAL REPORT -- LEADERS Kurt Hellstrom: Ericsson Kurt Hellstrom Ericsson Position President Contribution Helped make Ericsson the world leader in mobile-phone infrastructure equipment Ambition To make Ericsson the leading supplier of technology for mobile e-commerce Northern Sweden is known for producing straight-talking John Wayne types. Kurt Hellstrom, 56, who is from a farming hamlet called Stryksele, is one of them. Since stepping in as president of Swedish telecom giant Ericsson (ERICY) on July 7, the Harley-riding Hellstrom has checked a troubling slide in the company's fortunes. After a poor beginning of the year, in November he delivered better-than- expected quarterly results: $429 million in net income on sales of $5.8 billion. He's totally committed to finishing the turnaround. ''I will be here until they kick me out, I retire, or I die,'' he says. Hellstrom is focusing Ericsson on Net-related businesses in which it should be a world-beater. Already, the company is the global leader in supplying wireless-phone networks. Now, through new products and alliances with the likes of Visa International and Microsoft, Hellstrom expects to capitalize as hundreds of millions of people begin using supercharged mobile phones and the Internet to do everything from booking airline tickets to downloading videos. By Stanley Reed _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS Europe's Top e.business Leaders Ola Ahlvarsson: Result Venture Knowledge International Tomasz Czechowicz: Poland.com Nina Brink: World Online International N.V. Hasso Plattner: SAP Renato Soru: Tiscali Mark Schneider: United Pan-European Communications Kurt Hellstrom: Ericsson Ernesto Schmitt: peoplesound.com Chahram Becharat: Europ@web Paulus Neef: Pixelpark AG INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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