A1GP World Cup of Motorsport is pleased to announce the appointment of Pete da Silva as Chief Executive Officer of A1 Holdings Ltd, the company behind the FIA-sanctioned, international motorsport series.
Da Silva joins A1GP in January 2007 from his current position as Group CEO, Siemens in South Africa. He will take overall responsibility for the day-to-day running of the series, overseeing its future growth and development with particular attention to the company’s forthcoming IPO.
Commenting on his new appointment, da Silva said: ‘I am looking forward to further developing the many accomplishments of A1GP as it expands into new markets, forges new commercial partnerships and develops as a business. A1GP has created a unique product in motorsport that delivers an outstanding entertainment package so for me, this is a great opportunity to combine my business experience with a personal passion for the sport.’
On behalf of A1GP, deputy chairman Tony Teixeira commented: ‘Pete da Silva has extensive experience in business development and I believe he will be a great asset to the series, significantly contributing to its future as we work to maintain and strengthen our position in both the motorsport and business arenas.’
Biography:
Pete da Silva (48) will join A1GP as Chief Executive Officer in January 2007. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and now residing in South Africa, da Silva is fluent in English, Portuguese and German.
To date, da Silva’s career has been exclusively with the German multinational, Siemens. After studying Light Current Engineering, da Silva joined Siemens as a trainee engineer in the telecommunications field. He progressed in the Software development field and soon headed up the Siemens development centre in South Africa, also spending time overseas in Germany, USA, Argentina and Australia on various Siemens projects.
In the early nineties, da Silva headed up the Siemens Business Development team in the sales environment, thereafter assuming the position firstly of COO and then CEO of Siemens Telecommunications South Africa, during which time he grew the company to position one in the market. Pete remained CEO until 2004.
Since 2005, Pete has been Group CEO for Siemens in Southern Africa, which includes Telecommunications and outsourcing, Medical, Power and Automation and Control. During his tenure, Siemens has outgrown the market and is firmly in number one position in most of its market segments.
Throughout his time at Siemens, da Silva also held the position of Chairman at Siemens Telecommunications, Siemens Business Services and Siemens Mechanical Services. In addition he holds board positions on most of its subsidiaries.
Outside of his responsibilities to Siemens, Da Silva is a senior council member of the German Chamber, a board member of National Business Initiative (NBI), Business Trust (BT) and Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA).
Pete is married with two children. He is an avid follower of all forms of motorsport and time permitting, can be seen on his MX bike or Ducati 998R at weekends.
Press Release
A1GP
