Lego appoints new CEO after just eight months

Danish toy maker Lego, known for its iconic coloured plastic bricks, said on Thursday it had appointed a new chief executive, replacing Briton Bali Padda who held the job for just eight months. Niels Christiansen, 51, most recently the head of industrial technology company Danfoss, will take over the position on 1 October.

Padda, 61, a Lego executive for 14 years, was appointed in December and was always intended to be a temporary boss pending a longer-term replacement, Lego said.

"The search for a long-term CEO began as soon as Bali was appointed CEO ... The perfect candidate appeared sooner than expected by the board, and that is the reason for the transition now," Lego spokesman Roar Rude Trangbaek told AFP.

Source: AFP