Kalle Hvidt Nielsen has been appointed President and CEO of Bang & Olufsen a/s. Kalle Hvidt Nielsen is a trained engineer with a degree in marketing as well as broad international experience in marketing, business and product development, and top management.

Kalle Hvidt Nielsen, who will take up his new position as head of the leading provider of high-end AV solutions on 1 August, is an exceptionally experienced business leader on an international level. As a trained engineer from the Technical University of Denmark, he also has the hands-on technical experience required to oversee the innovative research and development environment which has been one of the hallmarks of Bang & Olufsen ever since the world renowned company was founded and incorporated by the two young engineers Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen in 1925. "The strong Bang & Olufsen brand is based on technology and design innovation," says Kalle Hvidt Nielsen, who sees the appointment to President and CEO as the culmination of a career dedicated to high tech R&D and top management. Therefore, the position at the helm of Bang & Olufsen suits him down to ground, and is in fact something of a dream come true: "Bang & Olufsen is a Danish icon and in every respect a unique company and fascinating brand," adds Kalle Hvidt Nielsen. From engineer to business leader After graduating from the Technical University of Denmark, Kalle Hvidt Nielsen completed a BA of Commerce degree in marketing while working as a software developer for i-Data International A/S from 1987 to 1996. He then worked as Head of R&D at Mach A/S (formerly known as DanNet A/S), before being headhunted by Brüel & Kjær A/S in 1998, where he was appointed President and CEO only four years later, in 2002. "The six years that I have spent in this position have given me a lot of experience in managing a large international organization that produces high tech products, and in this respect my current position is not that different from the top job at Bang & Olufsen," explains Kalle Hvidt Nielsen.  At Brüel & Kjær, a world leading manufacturer and supplier of sound and vibration solutions, the 44-year-old business leader worked as Head of Business Development before being promoted to Deputy Chief Executive responsible for research and development as well as a large marketing department with more than 20 subsidiaries worldwide. As CEO and President of Brüel & Kjær, he has managed an organisation of some 900 employees, including 100 developing engineers, since 2002. Focus is essential In the experience of Kalle Hvidt Nielsen, it is essential for an innovative company to remain focused. At Brüel & Kjær, he has sharpened the focus of the company by identifying the products that would improve the business, and by developing and implementing an ambitious but realistic business plan. At the same time, Kalle Hvidt Nielsen has made sure that the focus was always on the customer: "Technological and innovative companies sometimes focus too much on what the company is currently capable of producing. At Brüel & Kjær, we steered clear of this by focusing 100 percent on the customer and the customer's needs." Kalle Hvidt Nielsen is looking forward to being at the helm of the world's leading AV brand. "I am really looking forward to bringing Bang & Olufsen forward in collaboration with creative and professional colleagues both in Denmark and abroad," says Kalle Hvidt Nielsen, who is confident about the many strengths of the company: "The potential of Bang & Olufsen is absolutely unique, and I now look forward to having the opportunity to realize this potential."

Gah - beat me to the news article by 20 minutes!

I didn't know anything about this person before I read the article, but I think this is real good news for B&O; the man is young, he's a technician, and also cares about customer needs, that seems only good for me, as he should be in a position to work on B&O's main weakness at the moment: lack of new technology integration, with so many products that don't speak the same language in terms of connections, formats, and standards: HDMI TVs without HDMI sources, MP3 players that all play a different format at a different bitrate, and digital speakers that can't be fed by any TV and only 2 audio systems...among other things.

I still hope the strategy will be to update and upgrade the present range, instead of launching new products with new names that will soon become a BeoVision 11 or BeoLab 12, when BeoVision 2 and BeoLab 6/8 still haven't been released.. I still don't understand why BV9 is not called BV5 mark 2..

Let's hope we have some great news in the future!  

Good news for us all I think. This man sure is qualified for the job of Bang & Olufsen CEO. If they took that long to introduce/ present the new CEO, than it sure was because they wanted to find the right man for that job. For the rest: wait and see...

Sounds very promising!! Hopefully exciting times ahead!

All the very best to Kalle
I hope it doesn't take long before we (Beoworld) strike up a good relationship with him as we did with TBS.
Perhaps we could then ask him how to pronounce his middle name!

Andy T.

Thanks for all the info written in this thread, and for Lee's news article too.

After such a long time with no CEO in office, Mr. Nielsen sounds encouraging for the future and advancement of B&O.

Must dash back to Champions League now! Stunning first half goal.

I use Bruel & Kjaer sound and vibration measuring equipment at work - it actually looks like old B&O test equipment

But it does exactly what it says on the tin! - high quality measurement and analysis of sound and vibration. I'm not sure if  this gives the CEO any qualification to manage B&O but B&K are renowned for what they are and what they do - if he carries the same core values to B&O then hopefully we can forget the "expansion" markets and become "best in class" in our core area (audio quality/integration, for me as a requisite, video second).

Bring it on!

Henry:

Must dash back to Champions League now! Stunning first half goal.

Sorry guys; off topic:

Good game, don't you think? I would like to see ManU winning the Champions League, but only if that C.R. would not be in the team any more. I just can't stand her!  

Tom:

Henry:

Must dash back to Champions League now! Stunning first half goal.

Sorry guys; off topic:

Good game, don't you think? I would like to see ManU winning the Champions League, but only if that C.R. would not be in the team any more. I just can't stand her!  

Ooh. ............... you've touched a nerve there! Don't you just hate him ................. unless he signed for Newcastle Utd. of course!

Tom:

Henry:

Must dash back to Champions League now! Stunning first half goal.

Sorry guys; off topic:

Good game, don't you think? I would like to see ManU winning the Champions League, but only if that C.R. would not be in the team any more. I just can't stand her!  

If you want "theatrical" - try a Mr Didier Drogba of Chelsea Football Club, London, England.

6ft 4" of Oscar Winning Ballerina with a turf-magnet in the back of his shorts and the pain threshold of a kitten.

Hurrumph

Lee

 

9 LEE:

Tom:

Henry:

Must dash back to Champions League now! Stunning first half goal.

Sorry guys; off topic:

Good game, don't you think? I would like to see ManU winning the Champions League, but only if that C.R. would not be in the team any more. I just can't stand her!  

If you want "theatrical" - try a Mr Didier Drogba of Chelsea Football Club, London, England.

6ft 4" of Oscar Winning Ballerina with a turf-magnet in the back of his shorts and the pain threshold of a kitten.

Hurrumph

Lee

 

Is that from an Eastbourne Prawn sandwich fan???

 

I wonder what this new superman will change in the portofolio and prices :-)

 

Well after reading the news I feel confident B&O is save.

Brüel & Kjær is a subsidiary of UK-based Spectris plc.

Let the speculation begin...

It sounds as though he may have the skills to re-focus B&O on its audio/video/integration/design with purpose not just looks & I would auto.  I think the auto is good & logical extension of their business.  After all, we (USA) spend so much time commuting that a great sound system helps.

 

Best of Luck of the new CEO.

 

Dario 

Sounds like a good choice for the job IMO. Lets hope he does well.

 

Craig