Neelie Kroes, one of the most powerful women in Europe, has exited the halls of the EU’s government in Brussels to take a role as one of the directors of CRM firm Salesforce.
Kroes was formerly vice president of the European Commission, European commissioner for Competition, and European commissioner for the Digital Agenda – which under her tenure increased the power of the singular digital market and was notorious for holding Google to account over issues relating to digital copyright.
Kroes is the second high-profile ex-government figure to join the board in the last two years, following the appointment of general Colin Powell almost exactly two years ago.
“We are delighted to have Neelie Kroes join our Board of Directors,” says Salesforce chairman and CEO Marc Benioff. “She is an amazing and respected leader who has done extraordinary work at the highest levels of government, technology policy and business in Europe. Salesforce will benefit greatly from her broad experience across both the public and private sectors.”
“Salesforce is one of the world’s most admired companies and a leader in digital transformation for business,” adds Kroes. “It’s an honour for me to serve on the Salesforce Board of Directors.”
The appointment, according to TechhCrunch, becomes effective on May 1. She will join a number of other high-profile people on the board, including Maynard Webb, chairman of Yahoo and Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube. Kroes will become the third woman on Salesforce’s board.
Email Nicola at nicolariches@yaffa.com.au.