Helsinki, Finland – Joe Bao has been appointed Executive Vice President, responsible for the Greater China region and member of the Executive Board as of 8 October 2022. He will report to Henrik Ehrnrooth, President and CEO of KONE Corporation. Joe succeeds William B. Johnson who will retire from the Executive Board after serving as Executive Vice President, Greater China since 2012.

Joe joins KONE from Microsoft where he currently serves as President of Microsoft China. During his 18-year tenure at Microsoft he has held several key leadership positions in the areas of sales, marketing, and strategy. He has a bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Texas at Austin. 

“I would like to thank William for the fantastic development of KONE China over the past 18 years. When he joined, KONE China was a challenger in the market. Since then, KONE has become the market leader in both new equipment and services across two strong brands, KONE and GiantKONE, a position we have maintained over the last ten years. The basis for this success has been strong customer focus, an engaged and highly motivated team, and an offering developed for the needs of the Chinese market. China remains a market with considerable potential, despite the current turbulence in the new equipment market. In the coming years, especially the services business is expected to provide significant growth opportunities. I am delighted to welcome Joe, who will lead our Greater China business, to the KONE Executive Board. Joe is an engaging leader with a strong track record of successfully driving business transformation in China towards value added services and solutions and implementing new business models that meet the needs of Chinese customers,” says Henrik Ehrnrooth, President and CEO of KONE.