The London Internet Exchange (LINX) announced today that their long-standing CEO, John Souter, has announced his intention to retire at the end of 2019. John has served as LINX CEO for the last 18+ years, whilst the exchange point has grown from around 100 to the 885 ASNs that are connected today.
Current CMO, Kurtis Lindqvist, has been confirmed as his successor. In announcing his impending retirement, John said: “It has been a great privilege to hold this position for so long in such an important part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure. The time has come to pass on the baton to someone new, to lead LINX to even greater success in the future. I would like to thank our members, our staff and Board for their support over the years, and for the great joy of working with them to develop LINX in the way that we have.”
Simon Woodhead, the Chairman of LINX said: “Any CEO wants to leave a business in a better shape than they found it, and any leader’s legacy is the culture and team they have built. John Souter has been tremendously successful in both respects, and has been a constant steady hand at the helm through a period of incredible change. John dedicated himself to LINX and the wider community and on behalf of both I wish to thank him for everything he has done and been. I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.” Simon Woodhead announced John’s successor in a statement to LINX members at their LINX105 quarterly member meeting on 29th May 2019: “I am delighted announce that we have appointed Kurt Erik (Kurtis) Lindqvist (the current CMO of LINX) to succeed John as CEO. They will work together in a handover relationship in the coming months, with Kurtis formally taking over in mid-September 2019. John will then step back into a supporting role, prior to his formal retirement from the business at the end of December 2019.”
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Kurtis Lindqvist said: “I am very honoured to have been selected as the next CEO for LINX. Under John’s leadership, LINX has become recognised as the worlds leading membership Internet Exchange and seen a tremendous growth. John has built a fantastic team at LINX and I look forward to leading LINX and the team, at a time when the interconnection market is changing.”
