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Bernardus Johannes Maria "Ben" Verwaayen KBE (born 11 February 1952) is a Dutch businessman and a general partner of Keen Venture Partners. He was Chief Executive Officer of the telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent from 2008 to 2013.
On leaving the army, to enable him to continue his work with the trade union, he joined a subsidiary of ITT Corporation because it gave him time to sit on a Dutch state committee to reform the army. His first promotion came after he went to the European Union Parliament in Brussels to protest about the company's alleged role in the overthrow of Salvador Allende's government in Chile; ITT responded by making him its Netherlands public relations chief.
In 1988, Verwaayen became a director of PTT Telecom, the state-owned Dutch telecoms group that was a forerunner of today's KPN; and then was appointed a board member of Lucent Technologies in 1997, moving to the United States. A committed Anglophile, he became CEO of BT Group in 2003.*website BTgroup Ben Verwaayen CEO on 15 May 2008 During his time there, he was also a board member for Dutch television production company Endemol, and chaired the Confederation of British Industry committee on climate change. There was controversy over his management style at BT, with accusations that BT Global Services had to write down substantial losses and that Verwaayen was to blame.
After standing down from BT on 1 June 2008 when Ian Livingston took over,Website Times Online Ian Livingston to.... posted on 9 April 2008 visited: 15 May 2008 there was speculation that he would pursue a career in Dutch politics. On 2 September 2008 the Alcatel-Lucent board of directors appointed Verwaayen as the company's chief executive officer, succeeding Patricia Russo. In March 2009, he forwent a €520,000 cash bonus after a pay freeze had been imposed on staff and a loss-making 2008. He was less restrained in later years; his salary increased by 30% between 2010 and 2012, even as losses continued at the company.
On 22 February 2013 the Alcatel-Lucent board of directors appointed Michel Combes as the company's CEO, succeeding Verwaayen, effective 1 April. Alcatel-Lucent names Michel Combes as CEO Reuters, 22 February 2013 He joined Akamai Technologies as a director in November 2013.
In 2016, Verwaayen founded Keen Venture Partners, a venture capital firm providing early growth capital for technology companies. Since April 2020, he has been Chairman of Renewi plc.
Verwaayen has been a longtime member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. He sat in its executive for ten years, and also contributed to its election programme for the 2006 Dutch elections. At various times, he was linked with a Cabinet position. The current Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, has named him as one of his closest advisors.
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