Gerard Johannes Kleisterlee (born 28 September 1946) is a Dutch businessman and engineer. He is the chairman of

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

, former supervisory board chairman of

ASML Holding ASML Holding N.V. (commonly shortened to ASML, originally standing for Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography) is a Netherlands, Dutch multinational corporation that specializes in the development and manufacturing of photolithography mach ...

, and the former president and CEO of

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

Early life

Born in

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a Cities of Germany, city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg (district), Lu ...

, Germany, on 28 September 1946 to Dutch and German parents, he was raised in the Netherlands. He was educated at a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

-run Canisius College in

Winterswijk Winterswijk (; also known as ''Winterswiek'' or ''Wenters'') is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. It has a population of and is situated in the Achterhoek, which lies in the easternmost part ...

, followed by the

Eindhoven University of Technology The Eindhoven University of Technology (), Abbreviation, abbr. TU/e, is a public university, public technical university in the Netherlands, situated in Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its Bachelor of Science, BS ...

, where he earned a MSc degree in electronic engineering. He received an MBA from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Wharton Business School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

in 1991. He attended the program for executive development at the Swiss business school

International Institute for Management Development International Institute for Management Development (IMD) is an independent academic institute with campuses in Lausanne, Switzerland and Singapore. IMD is known for its executive education and its proximity to business. In 2024, it named David B ...

(IMD) in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

Career

Trained as an electronics engineer, like his father, he worked at Philips for almost all of his life. From 1981 to 1986 he was general manager of Philips' Professional Audio Product Group. Kleisterlee joined Philips Components in 1986. After becoming general manager of Philips Display Components for Europe. He was appointed managing director of Philips Display Components Worldwide in 1994. He became president of Philips Taiwan and Regional Manager for Philips Components in Asia-Pacific in 1996. From September 1997 through June 1998 he was also responsible for all the activities of the Philips Group in China. He served on the Hong Kong Chief Executive's Council of International Advisers from 1998 to 2005. In May 2001 Kleisterlee succeeded Cor Boonstra as CEO of Philips. In 2006, he spun off the volatile semiconductors business into a separate entity

NXP Semiconductors NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a Dutch semiconductor manufacturing and design company with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is the third largest European semiconductor company by market capitalization as of 2024. The company employs approx ...

, and then sold a controlling 80.1% stake to a consortium of

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

investors. His tenure as CEO has been credited with turning the company around and returning Philips to its original focus areas. He was succeeded by

Frans van Houten François Adrianus "Frans" van Houten (born 26 April 1960) is a Dutch businessman. He was the CEO of Philips, Royal Philips Electronics (known as Philips) from April 2011 to October 2022. Biography The son of a member of the board of directors ...

as CEO of Philips in April 2011. A director of

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

, Kleisterlee was nominated as the successor at

to chairman John Bond in January 2011, a position he assumed in July 2011. He was awarded an Honorary doctorate from the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...

in 2005. He was named 2006 Europe Businessman of the Year by ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

''."Europe Businessman of the Year: Kleisterlee, Philips CEO"
, cnn.com; accessed 10 March 2017.

Personal life

He is married, with three children.

References

External links

Philips biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleisterlee, Gerard 1946 births Living people People from Eindhoven Dutch people of German descent Dutch technology chief executives Dutch chief executives in the manufacturing industry Dutch corporate directors 21st-century Dutch engineers Dutch businesspeople Philips employees Wharton School alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Vodafone people