Margherita Della Valle is chief executive officer of Vodafone, which has been one of the biggest turnaround stories on the FTSE 100 in the past year. However, an unlikely refuge has emerged: Europe’s long-struggling telecoms sector. The European telecoms sector has risen by 40 per cent over the past 12 months. The fact that it’s been delivered by a company lifer, Margherita Della Valle, making the kind of tough calls usually associated with an outside chief executive, makes it even more impressive. Might Della Valle make a defensive bid for 1&1, the fourth-largest German mobile operator?

Source: The Irish Times April 11, 2026 22:32 UTC