Stephen Beynon, the British chief executive of satellite internet provider OneWeb, is set to resign, less than a year after the company merged with France’s Eutelsat.
His departure comes amid reports of growing French dominance within the newly merged group, with key decisions shifting away from the UK.
OneWeb, founded by American entrepreneur Greg Wyler in 2012 to provide global internet coverage via low-Earth orbit satellites, faced significant challenges in 2020, filing for bankruptcy after losing support from lead investor SoftBank. The company was later rescued with a $500 million investment from the UK government and a similar amount from Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, who recently became BT’s largest shareholder.
Paynon, a former Business Matters columnist, was appointed CEO of OneWeb and co-head of Eutelsat’s communications division following the merger, which saw Eutelsat acquire OneWeb in a deal that was set up as a partnership. However, insiders suggest that the UK operations are increasingly being absorbed by the French parent, although the UK government retains a 10.9% stake and a special stake designed to protect UK interests.
Beynon’s co-chairman, Frenchman Cyril Dujardin, is expected to take full control of Eutelsat OneWeb after Beynon’s departure next month. A search is underway to find a successor to Beynon, with the leadership transition raising further questions about the future of OneWeb’s UK operations.
There was no comment from Baynon or Eutelsat on the resignation.