ICANN Selects Swedish Telecom Regulator Head as Next CEO

Swedish Post and Telecom Authority Director-General Göran Marby will be ICANN’s next permanent president-CEO, ICANN said Monday. CEO Fadi Chehadé is to leave ICANN in mid-March, with Marby set to take the helm in May. ICANN President-Global Domains Division Akram Atallah will be acting CEO until Marby can move from Sweden to Los Angeles, ICANN said. Friday night, Communications Daily reported that the nonprofit was nearing a pick, with one likely to come from Europe (see 1602050065).

There has been growing congressional and stakeholder scrutiny of Chehadé’s plan to co-chair a high-level advisory committee to the controversial Chinese government-led World Internet Conference after his planned departure from ICANN. Heightened scrutiny in the form of a letter last week from GOP presidential contender Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, (see 1602040061) and two other senators led to growing speculation about the search for Chehadé’s replacement.

Marby’s current role as the head of Sweden’s Post and Telecom Authority, which regulates that country’s postal and telecom sectors, makes him a “bit of a dark-horse candidate” and “better situated to leading the ITU,” an industry lobbyist told us Monday. Marby was CEO at security software firm AppGate Network Security from 2002-2009 and was CEO at network services company Cygate and Unisource Business Networks. He was also previously Cisco’s country manager for Sweden. Although ICANN had reportedly been looking for its next CEO to have executive experience in the private sector, Marby’s lack of specific experience in the domain names industry makes his selection “unusual,” an industry executive told us.