Elek Straub

Between 1968 and 1980, he worked at the Computer Science Institute of the Ministry of Labor (MüM) as a department head and then as a department head. He participated in the development and operation of information and statistical systems, computer applications, and IT training for industrial managers.

Between 1980 and 1990, as head of the IT department of the Central Statistical Office (KSH), and then as deputy chairman, he was responsible for the development and management of the largest Hungarian IT network of the 1980s. He participated in the development and management of the national statistical information system. As a government IT advisor and head of the IT development committee, he managed the entire domestic IT sector.

From 1990, he managed the company's Hungarian service and distribution activities as the CEO of IBM Hungary Ltd. By raising the efficiency and quality to a level that meets international requirements, he transformed the company into a successful market player; he implemented the Hungarian sales of all IBM products and the provision of IBM services.

From 1995, he was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hungarian Telecommunications Company, then Rt. (Matáv), and from 1996, he was its Chairman and CEO. From 2000, he managed the activities of the Matáv Group. He transformed the company from a former monopoly service provider into a leading market player in Hungarian telecommunications and the South-Eastern European region (the Balkans). The company's listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the organization of the owner Deutsche Telekom's domestic companies into a group, and the largest domestic rebranding costing several billion, the Westel / T-Mobile name change, are associated with his name. In 2005, he merged T-Mobile Zrt., which operated with a profit of 50 billion, into the fixed-line business. – In 2006, he resigned from his position and left the company.

Since 2006, he has been an independent telecommunications and investment professional and entrepreneur – one of the founding partners and chairman of the board of directors of Day One Capital Venture Capital Investment Co., Ltd.

Public positions: Member of the board of the National Association of Employers and Industrialists; member of the board of trustees of the C3 Cultural and Communication Center Foundation. President of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce between 2003 and 2007, vice president since 2007. Member of the board of directors of Graphisoft from 2007 to 2009. Member of the Economic Council of BME.

Honors: Neumann Award (NJSZT, 1997); CEO of the Year in Hungary (Management Association, 1999); Foreign CEO of the Year in Emerging Markets (ING Bank NV and Euromoney, 2000); Order of Merit, First Class of the German Republic (2004); Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (2004).