Steve Collar. Photo: SES

SES is on the hunt for a new CEO after the company announced that CEO Steve Collar is stepping down. Collar had been in the role just over five years. SES announced the news on Monday, June 12, saying that Collar is leaving at the end of the month to pursue “other professional and personal endeavors.”

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to lead the incredible people at SES. SES has been the benchmark in the industry for decades and I leave the company as its leader and go back to being a huge supporter, admirer and fan and will be cheering Ruy and the management team on from the sidelines. With O3b mPOWER launching, the company performing well and C-band all but delivered, the future is bright, and I wish the Board and everyone at SES every success,” Collar said in a statement.

Collar leaves during the launch campaign for O3b mPOWER, the operator’s next-generation upgrade to the O3b Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) constellation. SES has launched two out of three batches of mPOWER satellites, and the constellation is set to begin service in the third quarter of 2023.

Collar took the helm as CEO of SES in February 2018, and he was previously CEO of SES Networks. He also led O3b Networks, which was fully acquired by SES in 2016. He has been a leader in the industry, and was named Satellite Executive of the Year in 2020.

The search for a successor is underway and CTO Ruy Pinto will assume the role of CEO until a permanent successor is announced. Pinto joined SES in February 2017 and was appointed chief technology officer in January 2019, driving multi-orbit capabilities and the “cloudification” of SES.

Frank Esser, chairman of the SES board of directors said that Collar leaves the business in “a strong position for the future with a differentiated multi-orbit capability, world-class set of customer solutions, a simplified and market-centric organization, and a strong balance sheet set to be further strengthened from the execution of C-band clearing.”

“The current market environment is rapidly changing, and I welcome Ruy Pinto, who leads over half of the SES workforce today and has substantial industry experience, as we address the challenges and capture further opportunities in the market,” Esser added.