The moves, announced early Tuesday, follow Friday’s closing of the €5.4 billion sale of Nokia’s once-dominant mobile-device unit to Microsoft Corp. The Indian-born executive succeeds Risto Siilasmaa, Nokia’s chairman, who served as interim CEO of the since last September, when Microsoft Corp.
announced its intention to buy Nokia’s handset business. Stephen Elop had been running Nokia when the handset business was sold, but stepped down to take a senior job with Microsoft. Mr. Suri, a 46-year old electronics and telecom engineer, has headed Nokia’s mobile network unit since 2009 and was widely expected to be named chief executive.
With more than 23 years of international experience, Suri has worked in strategy and mergers & acquisitions, product marketing, sales, major account leadership, regional and business unit leadership and has lived in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.