With Fouquet, ASML opts for continuity

ASML’s supervisory board had to solve a difficult puzzle. After all, how do you replace a man deemed irreplaceable? Who in Dutch high tech hasn’t heard of the saying: “If Martin van den Brink leaves, better sell your shares?” It’s not that bad, obviously, but there’s some truth in it. With every changing of the guard, the world wants reassurances about the company’s future. That’s not so easy to do when the beating technology heart steps down, especially if the equally long-serving CEO Peter Wennink joins him.

Already, we know that the succession went down smoothly. Insider Christophe Fouquet is continuity in the flesh. Having held positions within all major business units and, before that, at two other US chip machine manufacturers, the Frenchman knows both the company and the industry like the back of his hand. For the thorny CTO issue, the supervisors came up with a down-to-earth solution: there simply won’t be a successor.