The commercial satellite operator ABS (Asia Broadcast Satellite) has announced the new appointment of Jim Simpson as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He replaces Tom Choi who resigned as CEO in October 2017, although he remains on the ABS board. Jim, officially arrived at the post on 21 December.
Prior to joining ABS, Jim Simpson spent 35 years at The Boeing Company in various leadership positions in the Satellite and Launch Business. After retirement from Boeing, he served 2 years as the Senior Vice President for Strategy and Business Development and was an Officer of Aerojet Rocketdyne focused on propulsion and power systems for satellites, rockets and defense productions. Jim holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, an M.B.A. from the University of Southern California and a graduate certificate in Program Management from California Institute of Technology.
Jim Simpson Courtesy: ABS
ABS operates a fleet of satellites: ABS-2, ABS-2A, ABS-3A, ABS-4/Mobisat-1, ABS-6, and ABS-7. The satellite fleet covers over 93% of the world’s population across the Americas, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, CIS and Russia. Headquartered in Bermuda, ABS has offices in the United States, United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Asia. ABS is majority owned by funds managed by the European Private Equity firm Permira. Permira had put ABS up for sale in 2016, but according to other satellite fleet owners and industry investors the sale price was too high, so a sale did not occur.
