Marc Murtra has been named Executive Chairman of Spanish telco Telefónica, replacing José Álvarez-Pallete who held the role for nine years. Alvarez-Pallete was asked to resign and complied at a board meeting on January 18th. Telefonica said that Alvarez-Pallete was asked to step down and termiated his contract after a group of shareholders made a request for a change of leadership shareholders indicated a desire for a “new stage in the executive chairmanship”.
The Spanish government had a key role in the decision, which came after an investor shake up that began with the 2023 announcement by Saudi Arabian telco group STC that it was acquiring 9.9 per cent of Telefónica.
Murtra (pictured) is an Industrial Engineer from the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyers Industrials de Barcelona (ETSEIB), of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Until now he was the executive chairman of Indra’s Board of Directors. Additionally, he is an independent Director of Ebro Foods, and member of its Executive Committee and Audit and Control Committee, and he is also a director of Industria de Turbo Propulsores. He is also a trustee of the Fundación Bancaria Caixa d’Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona (‘Pensions Banking Foundation of Barcelona’), La Caixa.
He began his career in the nuclear industry, at British Nuclear Fuels Ltd in the UK and he then worked for the Management Consultancy DiamondCluster, where he worked for large technological companies. He has held public responsibilities for several years, where he was a specialist in Digital Strategy, Digital Transformation and Public-Private Partnerships. In this role he served as general manager of Red.es, as well as the chief of staff for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce of the Government of Spain.
He has been Managing Partner of the Board of Closa Investment Bankers, as well as Manager of CREA Inversión, and he boasts an extensive knowledge of the tech industry.