Frans van Houten

Frans van Houten is CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee and the Board of Management of Royal Philips, a position he has held since April 2011. He first joined the company in 1986 and has held multiple senior global leadership positions across the company on three continents, including co-CEO of the Consumer Electronics division. From 2004 to 2009 he led the successful Philips spin-off NXP Semiconductors. Between 2009 and 2010 he ran his own consultancy and was senior advisor to the board of Dutch financial services business ING Group to separate ING’s banking and insurance operations. Frans is passionate about business transformation and performance management and is a long-time champion of the company’s strategic approach to innovating sustainably. Frans’ ethos is rooted in a lean entrepreneurial approach. He leads the company in its goal to make the world healthier and more sustainable and to deliver on the company’s stated goal of improving three billion lives per year by 2025. Under his leadership, Philips’ global Accelerate! program was launched in 2011, designed to drive entrepreneurship and operational excellence and raise the level of competitiveness across all areas of the company. It remains the engine of the company’s results improvements today. Frans’ team has led the company into the next decisive phase of its transformation: the portfolio adjustment of Royal Philips into a focused health technology company. This was effectuated through the sale of Consumer Electronics activities in 2012 and the more recent IPO of Philips Lighting on the Amsterdam Euronext stock exchange in May 2016. The move establishes Royal Philips at the heart of a EUR 140+ billion market opportunity in health technology and Philips Lighting at the center of the EUR 65+ billion market opportunity in lighting solutions. Frans is also recognized for strengthening Philips activities in health technology through the acquisition of US image-guided therapy leader, Volcano, and the fostering of emerging businesses such as Digital Pathology and Health informatics. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Business Management from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and is a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists. Married with four children, Frans enjoys sailing, skiing, running and art. He lives near Amsterdam, The Netherlands.