Michel Combes
French businessman
Michel Combes (born 29 March 1962) is a French businessman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lambda, an AI infrastructure and GPU cloud company. Previously, he was CEO of SoftBank Group International, Sprint, and has held CEO roles at Vodafone Europe, Alcatel-Lucent and Altice.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Michel Combes (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Mar 29, 1962.1
Companies
- Pasqal Holding SABoard member Aug 27, 2026 to now13
- Philip Morris InternationalBoard member Dec 18, 2020 to now14
- F5, Inc.Board member Jul 23, 2018 to now15
- Alcatel-LucentChief executive officer16
- WeWorkBoard member Nov 1, 2021 to Sep 13, 202217
- SoFiBoard member Jun 2, 2021 to Sep 3, 202118
- LDH Growth Corp IBoard member Mar 18, 2021 to Mar 18, 202119
- LDH Growth Corp IPresident Mar 18, 2021 to Mar 18, 202119
- Sprint CorporationChief executive officer May 20, 2019 to Apr 2, 202020
- Sprint CorporationBoard member Feb 1, 2018 to Apr 2, 202021
- Sprint CorporationPresident Jan 11, 2018 to Apr 2, 202022
- Sprint CorporationChief financial officer Jan 11, 2018 to May 25, 201822
- Optimum CommunicationsBoard member Jun 21, 2017 to Jun 29, 201723
Holdings
Stock this person has reported owning, from the forms officers and directors file with the SEC. See the biggest insider stakes.
Shares held
- Pasqal Holding SA PSQL2,511,667 shares24$15.1M at $6.01Aug 27, 2026
F5, Inc. FFIV5,805 shares25$2.6M at $456.14Mar 11, 2026
Philip Morris International PM11,643 shares26$2.4M at $204.62May 6, 2026
As of each latest filing. The line shows shares held over time.
Recent filings
- Aug 27, 2026Other 2,511,667 shares of Pasqal Holding SA24
- May 6, 2026Granted 1,119 shares at $169.93 of Philip Morris International26
- Mar 16, 2026Exercised options 42,500 shares of Merlin, Inc.27
- Mar 13, 2026Exercised options 8,333,333 shares of Merlin, Inc.27
- Mar 11, 2026Exercised options 934 shares of F5, Inc.25
- May 7, 2025Granted 1,002 shares at $174.82 of Philip Morris International28
- Mar 12, 2025Exercised options 1,309 shares of F5, Inc.29
- May 8, 2024Granted 1,789 shares at $97.84 of Philip Morris International30
- Mar 13, 2024Exercised options 741 shares of F5, Inc.31
- May 3, 2023Granted 1,812 shares at $96.58 of Philip Morris International32
- May 4, 2022Granted 1,759 shares at $99.53 of Philip Morris International33
Early life and education
- Date not recordedTélécom Paris3
- Date not recordedLycée Louis-le-Grand3
- Date not recordedConservatoire national des Arts et Métiers3
- Date not recordedParis Dauphine University3
- Date not recordedÉcole polytechnique3
Combes was born on 29 March 1962. He attended the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, then graduated from École Polytechnique in 1983, Télécom ParisTech, Paris Dauphine University and Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Cnam).
From Wikipedia’s article on Michel Combes (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: entrepreneur.8
- 2016 to 2017Chief executive, Altice France6
- Date not recordedWorked at France Télécom4
- Date not recordedChief executive, Alcatel-Lucent5
- Date not recordedBoard member, Philip Morris International7
After holding several positions at ministries, France Télécom and TDF, Combes was CEO of Vodafone Europe from 2008 to 2012.
On 22 February 2013 the Alcatel-Lucent board of directors appointed Combes as the company's CEO, succeeding Ben Verwaayen (effective April 1). On 19 June 2013 Combes announced plans to focus Alcatel-Lucent's operations on networking products and high-speed broadband in order to cut costs by 1 billion euros by 2015. He left Alcatel-Lucent in September 2015, after Nokia announced its intention to buy the company but before the merger was complete, to join Altice as COO. He became Altice's CEO in 2016, and resigned in November 2017.
Combes was appointed as the CFO of Sprint in January 2018, and CEO in May of the same year. His tenure ceased when Sprint merged with T-Mobile US in April 2020.
Following Sprint, Combes joined SoftBank Group International as President in April 2020 and was appointed CEO on 28 January 2022, where he oversaw SBGI's operating and investment portfolios, including the SoftBank LatAm Funds. He served on several boards of directors of SoftBank portfolio companies, including WeWork, Cybereason, Contentsquare, Jellysmack, Kavak, OneWeb, Sorare, Swile, TelevisaUnivision and Vestiaire Collective.
In 2026, Combes was appointed CEO of Lambda, an AI infrastructure company and GPU cloud provider. He joined co-founder and CTO Stephen Balaban, who continues to lead the company's technical direction.
From Wikipedia’s article on Michel Combes (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Personal life
Combes is married to Christie Julien, an acclaimed French concert pianist. Combes has three children.
From Wikipedia’s article on Michel Combes (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataMichel Combes on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaMichel Combes on Wikipedia
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- 12WikidataMichel Combes: X, on Wikidata
- 13SEC EDGARPasqal Holding SA, Board member
- 14Wikidata and SEC EDGARPhilip Morris International, Board member
- 15SEC EDGARF5, Inc., Board member
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- 17SEC EDGARWeWork, Board member
- 18SEC EDGARSoFi, Board member
- 19SEC EDGARLDH Growth Corp I, Board member
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- 21SEC EDGARSprint Corporation, Board member
- 22SEC EDGARSprint Corporation, President
- 23SEC EDGAROptimum Communications, Board member
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- 27SEC EDGARForm 4 filed Mar 18, 2026
- 28SEC EDGARForm 4 filed May 9, 2025
- 29SEC EDGARForm 4 filed Mar 14, 2025
- 30SEC EDGARForm 4 filed May 10, 2024
- 31SEC EDGARForm 4 filed Mar 15, 2024
- 32SEC EDGARForm 4 filed May 5, 2023
- 33SEC EDGARForm 4 filed May 6, 2022