Risto Kalevi Siilasmaa (born 17 April 1966) is a
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
businessperson and the chairman, founder and former
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of
F-Secure Corporation (formerly Data Fellows), an
anti-virus
Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware.
Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name. ...
and
computer security
Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...
software company based in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, Finland.
He is also the biggest shareholder of F-Secure, owning around 40% of the company. He was chairman of
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
from 2012 to 2020.
Education
Siilasmaa has a
Master of Science
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
degree from
Helsinki University of Technology
Helsinki University of Technology (TKK; fi, Teknillinen korkeakoulu; sv, Tekniska högskolan) was a technical university in Finland. It was located in Otaniemi, Espoo in the metropolitan area of Greater Helsinki. The university was founded in ...
(now named:
Aalto University
Aalto University ( fi, Aalto-yliopisto; sv, Aalto-universitetet) is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the He ...
), Department of Industrial Engineering and Management.
Business
Siilasmaa founded
F-Secure
F-Secure Corporation is a global cyber security and privacy company, which has its headquarters in Helsinki, Finland.
The company has offices in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, ...
in 1988.
He left his role as CEO of the company on 6 November 2006.
Siilasmaa is also well known as a
business angel
An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...
, investing in several technology
startups
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses t ...
such as
Frosmo,
Enevo and
Wolt
Wolt is a Finnish technology company known for its delivery platform for food and merchandise. On Wolt's apps (iOS and Android) or website, customers can order food and other items from the platform's restaurant and merchant partners, and either p ...
, and serving in their boards of directors.
In his investing, he has stated that he is sometimes "motivated by soft values, not maximum returns."
Nokia
Siilasmaa joined
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
's board of directors in 2008. After being appointed chairman of Nokia in mid-2012, he acted as interim CEO, after
Stephen Elop from 3 September 2013 to 29 April 2014 when
Rajeev Suri
Rajeev Suri (born 10 October 1967) is an Indian born, Singaporean business executive. He has been the CEO of Inmarsat since February 2021, and was previously the CEO of Nokia until 31 July 2020. Before being appointed Nokia's CEO in May 2014, ...
was appointed the official CEO. Since then, he has led the company in one of the most successful corporate transformations ever. Through three transactions that he negotiated – the purchase of complete ownership of
Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Networks (formerly Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN)) is a multinational data networking and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Espoo, Finland, and wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia Corp ...
, the sale of the handset business to
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
, and the acquisition of
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...
– Nokia has transformed from a bankruptcy candidate to a successful global technology leader. This is reflected in Nokia's value which has gone up fivefold over roughly two years. Even more revealingly, the enterprise value has grown from a low of only less than 1.5 billion euros soon after Siilasmaa started as chairman to well over 20 billion euros in early 2015. In a September 2018 interview with
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
in Switzerland, he described Nokia as an "experimenter."
The transformation of Nokia has also included Siilasmaa renewing the board and the management, with the vast majority of employees newly joining in the company's new phase. Siilasmaa has often stated that all the atoms in Nokia have been changed but the spirit of the 150-year-old company lives on.
In October 2018, Siilasmaa published a book about Nokia, ''Transforming Nokia: The Power of Paranoid Optimism to Lead Through Colossal Change''. In it, he criticises predecessor chairman
Jorma Ollila
Jorma Jaakko Ollila CBE (born 15 August 1950) is a Finnish businessman who was chairman of Royal Dutch Shell from 1 June 2006 to May 2015, and at Nokia Corporation chairman from 1999 to 2012 and CEO from 1992 to 2006. He has been a director of ...
's leadership style and claimed they fell out.
In December 2019, Siilasmaa announced to step down as chairman of Nokia's board of directors with then vice chair
Sari Baldauf
Sari Maritta Baldauf (born 10 August 1955 in Kotka, Finland) is a Finnish businesswoman who is chairman of the board of directors of Nokia. She joined the board in 2018 and became vice chair in 2019, before she succeeded Risto Siilasmaa as chairman ...
to succeed him in 2020.
Other activities
Corporate boards
*
Efecte, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2008)
* Ekahau, Chairman of the Board of Directors (since 2007)
*
Elisa
The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presence ...
, Member of the Board of Directors (2008–2012)
*
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
, Member of the Board of Directors, since 2012 as Chairman (2008–2020)
*
Technology Industries of Finland, Member of the Board of Directors (2016-2018)
Non-profit organizations
*
Confederation of Finnish Industries
The Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK, fi, Elinkeinoelämän Keskusliitto, sv, Finlands Näringsliv) is the largest employers' association in Finland. It was formed at the beginning of 2005 when the two employers' associations ''Palvelutyö ...
(EK), Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors (2017-2018)
*
European Round Table of Industrialists The European Round Table of Industrialists, abbreviated ERT, is an advocacy group in the European Union consisting of some 50 European industrial leaders working to strengthen competitiveness in Europe. The group works at both national and European ...
(ERT), Member
*
Helsinki University of Technology
Helsinki University of Technology (TKK; fi, Teknillinen korkeakoulu; sv, Tekniska högskolan) was a technical university in Finland. It was located in Otaniemi, Espoo in the metropolitan area of Greater Helsinki. The university was founded in ...
, Member of the Advisory Board
*
Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra), Member of the Research Council
Personal life
Siilasmaa lives in the
Kuusisaari
Kuusisaari (Finnish), Granö (Swedish) is an island and a neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders ...
island of
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
.
Literature
Paranoid optimist, by Catherine Fredman and Risto Siilasmaa, 2018: In Transforming Nokia, Chairman of the Board Risto Siilasmaa offers his firsthand account of the company’s dramatic fall and astonishing turnaround. He reveals the reasons for its collapse and how other leaders can avoid the same fate. He shares the survival strategies and change-management methods he learned by leading people through crisis and steering the company through its wrenching reinvention. And he explains how the power of paranoid optimism and the precepts of what he calls “Entrepreneurial Leadership” enable leaders to build sustainable success.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siilasmaa, Risto
1966 births
Living people
Aalto University alumni
Finnish chief executives
Nokia people