KONE EVP Greater China Role to Transition from Johnson to Bao

Effective October 8, Joe Bao has been appointed executive vice president (EVP), Greater China, and member of the executive board at KONE, succeeding William B. Johnson, who will retire. Previously president of Microsoft China, Bao holds a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from the University of Texas at Austin and held several key leadership positions in sales, marketing and strategy at Microsoft. He will report directly to KONE CEO Henrik Ehrnrooth, who thanked Johnson for bringing KONE from “a challenger” in China to a market leader through “two strong brands,” KONE and GiantKONE, over the past 18 years. Ehrnrooth said that, despite challenges, the Chinese market has considerable potential, particularly in service. He describes Bao as “an engaging leader with a strong record of successfully driving business transformation in China toward value-added services and solutions and implementing new business models that meet the needs of Chinese customers.”