Above: Marcelo Cataldo. Photos courtesy Digicel Group.
Digicel Group announced Marcelo Cataldo as its new Group Chief Executive, effective May 01 2024.
Originally from Paraguay, Marcelo has diverse international experience having worked across Latin America, the US and Europe. He joins Digicel from Tigo Colombia where he has served as Chief Executive Officer and President since August 2016. On his watch, the company delivered communications services to 16 million customers in Colombia and is on a strong growth trajectory with its postpaid base up by 21% and its corporate digital services up by almost 35% last year.
Marcelo joined Millicom in 2010 and rose through the organisation working in a range of senior commercial, business development and products and services roles. And since 2016, he has also been a leader of Tigo’s ESG strategy. Highlights of this are a strong focus on compliance and corporate governance and the Contigo Conectados corporate social responsibility programme which works to raise awareness of responsible internet use and practices among children, adolescents, parents and teachers.
Before joining Millicom, he worked in a number of technology roles in the finance sector in Europe. He holds a Bachelor ofScience and a Master’s in Computer Science and Engineering from the Universidad Católica “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción” in Paraguay and an MBA from Madrid Polytechnic University in Spain.
Marcelo takes over from Maarten Boute who has served as interim Group CEO since the completion of the restructuring in January and who will return to his role as Group COO. He will be based in Kingston, Jamaica.
Commenting on his appointment as Digicel Group CEO, Marcelo Cataldo, said; “I am very proud to have the opportunity to lead such a vibrant company that has achieved and done so much to bring positive change to the communications landscape and to communities across the Caribbean and Central America. As a customer obsessive, I’ve admired how the Digicel team consistently finds new and innovative ways to forge connections with customers and to ingrain that behaviour across the organisation. I’m excited to be a part of that.”
In welcoming Marcelo, Digicel Group Chairman, Rajeev Suri, said; “I am thrilled to welcome Marcelo to the Digicel team. His incredible energy, industry insight and commercial acumen, coupled with his extensive international track record, position him perfectly to lead us into our next growth phase.”
He continues; “As we welcome Marcelo, I would also like to thank Maarten Boute, Digicel Group COO, for his excellent work as interim Group CEO. Maarten is a very strong operator and a Digicel stalwart. Together Marcelo and Maarten will be a force to be reckoned with. I wish them both every success.”
Leopoldo Gutierrez
Leopoldo Gutierrez was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer, effective 1st May 2024.
Leopoldo is an experienced finance executive with 20+ years in global operations – 15 of them with Latin America operator Tigo in a variety of senior finance roles – and is particularly skilled in managing complexity, driving change, seizing growth opportunities and optimising costs.
An El Salvador national, Leopoldo has served as VP Finance Operations for Tigo based in Miami, Florida since December 2019. Prior to that, he was CFO for Tigo in Colombia for seven years. He has also held financial management roles for commercial airline TACA in El Salvador and for Unilever in El Salvador and the UK. Leopoldo holds a Bachelor of Business and Economics from the Escuela Superior de Economía y Negocios in San Salvador and an MBA from McGill University in Montreal. He will be based in Kingston, Jamaica.
Commenting on his appointment, Leopoldo Gutierrez, said; “Digicel has an amazing track record of connecting the unconnected and impact investing to benefit customers, communities and countries. I am proud to join a team that is laser focused on driving opportunities for all.”
In welcoming Leopoldo to the team, Digicel Group Chairman, Rajeev Suri, said; “With the addition of Leopoldo, we’ve got some impressive bench strength at the top of our C-suite in the shape of our new Group CEO, Marcelo Cataldo, and our existing Group COO, Maarten Boute. I have every confidence in this team’s ability to spearhead our next growth phase and to continue to ensure that our customers and our communities reap the rewards of a connected society.”
