Svenska Spel CEO sacked as part of ‘major reorganization’

With the global financial crisis still playing itself out, European countries are launching austerity programs to purge their bloated state payrolls, and Sweden has decided to start at the top. Meta Persdotter, CEO of state-owned gaming monopoly Svenska Spel, has been fired as part of a major reorganization that also saw marketing director Tomas Agrell leave the company last week. Finance director Anders Hägg has been appointed acting CEO, but officials don’t expect to have a permanent replacement for a year or more, which says a lot about the speed (or lack thereof) with which most state-run businesses operate. Read more.