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Timotheus Höttges transformed Deutsche Telekom by doubling down on America’s maverick brand, T-Mobile. His final test: a $300 billion-plus deal.

Timotheus Höttges is about to embark on the most ambitious test of his professional career: trying to push through the largest public-company merger in history.

Höttges already runs Deutsche Telekom DTE 3.06%increase; up pointing triangle, the West’s largest telecommunications company with 273 million mobile customers in 50 countries and a 54% stake in T-Mobile TMUS 3.25%increase; green up pointing triangle US. Now, he is reportedly looking to marry the straight-laced German firm with its flashy American offshoot.

Constant price pressure and regulatory intervention make telecom a “scheißindustrie”—a crappy industry—Höttges said in February on “OMR,” a German podcast about marketing. But he has found success in it.

During his 12-year tenure as Deutsche Telekom’s chief executive, Höttges has helped turn T-Mobile from a money-losing underdog to the world’s most valuable telecom brand by market capitalization.

But analysts say T-Mobile is constrained on large deals: Its high leverage makes borrowing expensive, and it can’t issue stock without diluting its German parent’s stake. By combining Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile into a single $300 billion behemoth, the company would likely be able to raise debt at a lower cost, among other benefits.

T-Mobile aims to buy fiber-internet operators in the U.S. to compete with AT&T and Verizon and offer bundled wireless and home internet to more customers.

To pull off the merger, Höttges will have to win over T-Mobile shareholders who own the remainder not held by Deutsche Telekom and who see little upside as the merger would expose them to lower-margin foreign businesses. And he will need to convince the German state, which owns 28% of Deutsche Telekom. Should he get those votes, he will then have to navigate a complex regulatory approval process that would involve national-security review by two governments.

Höttges, 63 years old, grew up near Düsseldorf. He earned a business degree, took a job in consulting, and by 2000 was chief financial officer of Deutsche Telekom’s German unit. That same year, the company struck a deal to buy the Bellevue, Wash.-based carrier then known as VoiceStream Wireless.

As Höttges rose through the ranks at Deutsche Telekom—overseeing the German unit, European mobile operations and fixed-broadband operations before becoming chief financial officer in 2009—the American asset became the empire’s problem child, known for poor network coverage.

Höttges and then-CEO René Obermann struck a deal in 2011 to sell T-Mobile to AT&T. The sale was scrapped after the Justice Department sued.

The pair then plotted a new approach: go all-in on America. They used their massive breakup fee from AT&T, including spectrum and some $3 billion in cash, to improve T-Mobile’s network and expand the business.

Höttges worked on the plans with Obermann—first to sell T-Mobile, then to save it—in his signature deliberative process, Obermann recalled in an interview. For every idea, Höttges insisted on considering the antithesis as well.

“If nobody contradicts him, he himself becomes his own dialectical force,” Obermann said. Many years before Höttges became CFO, the two had bought land in Bonn together and built neighboring houses. They kept up their discussions well past midnight, then often jogged together the next morning.

When Höttges took the reins from Obermann in 2014, T-Mobile’s fortunes were rising. John Legere, T-Mobile’s CEO at the time who pitched the company as the “Un-carrier,” sprinkled emojis throughout his communications, answered customer complaints on social media and attracted subscribers with discounts and flexible contract terms.

As T-Mobile’s chairman, Höttges occasionally clashed with the brash Legere. In 2015 Höttges publicly called his discounting unsustainable. Legere fired back on social media, calling Höttges’s comments “total bulls—.”

Legere didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“Höttges picked the right horse. Then he gave the horse enough fodder for it to run fast,” said Roger Entner, founder of telecom research firm Recon Analytics, whose clients include T-Mobile.

Höttges has called T-Mobile’s 2020 acquisition of Sprint his greatest achievement. Talks repeatedly broke down, as he went toe-to-toe with Masayoshi Son, CEO of Sprint’s majority owner, SoftBank, and a famously tough negotiator. Legere and other U.S. executives led talks with American regulators, and T-Mobile ultimately landed the deal that valued Sprint at $59 billion, including debt. The transaction gave the company more firepower to pursue fifth-generation wireless technology.

Höttges has invested billions in T-Mobile’s U.S. infrastructure to support its fixed-wireless home-internet product. He has also put billions into expanding the German network, where fiber-internet subscribers have nearly tripled since 2023.

He champions a cause popular with European regulators: tech sovereignty, or reducing reliance on American and Chinese tech. In February Deutsche Telekom opened Germany’s first AI gigafactory, a massive data center. (The gigafactory uses chips from Nvidia, which is an American company.)

Server cabinets illuminated by pink neon lights in the Industrial AI Cloud data center.

Sven Hoppe/dpa via Zuma Press

T-Mobile contributes nearly two-thirds of Deutsche Telekom’s revenue. The growing U.S. operation has made political overtures to the Trump administration, which has meant Höttges at times walks a trans-Atlantic tightrope to keep governments and stakeholders in both Germany and the U.S. happy.

Last year T-Mobile ended some policies related to diversity, equity and inclusion, joining a wave of companies rethinking their language and commitments around those issues. Höttges got thousands of emails about it, including from angry German shareholders, said people familiar with the matter.

“We continue to live our culture of diversity in the U.S., as we do everywhere, and ensure that no one is discriminated against at work,” said a Deutsche Telekom spokesman, adding that diversity remains a driver of the company’s success. “At the same time, we respect the political framework in the U.S.”

Another thorny moment came from T-Mobile’s donation to the White House’s new ballroom. Some members of Deutsche Telekom’s supervisory board became concerned the donation could expose the parent company to allegations of illegally bribing a foreign government, said people familiar with the matter.

Höttges was asked about the gift when that board met in December, said people who attended the meeting. He replied that T-Mobile hadn’t known the gift, around $4 million, was for a ballroom, and gave the money to the Trust for the National Mall believing it would be used for America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, the people said.

A Deutsche Telekom spokesman declined to comment on the meeting. T-Mobile referenced a statement from October, in which a spokesperson said the company donated to the Trust, which helps to “restore and enrich the historic landmarks that define our nation’s capital, such as the White House ballroom.” The spokesperson added, “T-Mobile has no role in the use of those funds or decisions related to the construction of the ballroom.”

Höttges plans to retire at the end of 2028 and wants the right successor to be found first, said people familiar with the matter.

He said on the “OMR” podcast that his successor will need a different skill set. Artificial intelligence is overhauling the workforce and automating next-generation networks, transforming the industry at an astonishing pace.

“Back then, a sober numbers guy was the right choice,” he said. “Today, I believe we need a visionary who understands the future architecture of modern infrastructure.”

Perrigo Company PLC, the US-listed generics drug maker, has come back under the spotlight amid a fresh round of takeover talk.

In early April this year Betaville Intelligence reported talk that Stada Arzneimittel AG was circling Perrigo.

However, talks eventually faltered, said people following the situation.

People following the situation have now heard rumours Stada and its private equity owner CapVest may have rekindled their interest in buying Perrigo, whose headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland for tax purposes.

The speculation arrives after the Perrigo's chief executive and president, Patrick Lockwood-Taylor, left earlier the business earlier this week after the board found his personal conduct had violated company code.

Some people following the situation had heard Stada and CapVest may even be looking at carrying out a 'bear hug' or launching a quasi hostile takeover offer after talks faltered earlier this year.

Advisers from JP Morgan and Citigroup are rumoured to be working on the potential deal, said people following the situation.

Readers should be aware that Perrigo's shares have risen 6.5pc this week, so some of the takeover rumour may already be priced into the stock.

To be clear, this story is UNCOOKED. I have pasted the definitions of UNCOOKED below in case you don't recall their definitions.

UNCOOKED: Market gossip as Betaville receives it. This scuttlebutt has just come in and hasn't been checked with all of Betaville's well-informed RARE sources let alone formal journalistic channels (public relations executives, bankers etc). The rumour might be total codswallop, rubbish or nonsense - but then again there may be something in it, so it's worth airing on Betaville.

Kim Jong Un recently inspected a new mammoth facility that dramatically boosts Pyongyang’s ability to make nuclear bombs

North Korea’s uranium-enrichment capacity could expand by 75% with a new Yongbyon facility, signaling leader Kim Jong Un’s intent to expand his arsenal.

The new facility at Yongbyon is estimated to house over 9,000 centrifuges, capable of producing 160 kilograms of highly enriched uranium annually.

North Korea has an estimated 60 nuclear warheads, up from 50 in 2025, and enough fissile material for 90 more.

SEOUL—North Korea’s uranium-enrichment capacity could soon expand by 75% once a new facility reaches full production, a clear signal that leader Kim Jong Un intends to expand his arsenal in defiance of international pressure.

The new facility in Yongbyon is estimated to house more than 9,000 centrifuges capable of producing roughly 160 kilograms of highly enriched uranium a year, according to Vertic, a London-based nonprofit that helps governments implement and verify international arms-control agreements. Previously, North Korea could produce roughly 215 kilograms of highly enriched uranium annually, according to Vertic.

“North Korea probably has all the material they’d need for a medium-sized nuclear arsenal already. And now it looks like they’re running up the numbers,” said Grant Christopher, one of the authors of the Vertic analysis, who co-leads the group’s verification and monitoring program. “We don’t see any evidence they’re going to stop any time soon.”

North Korea’s total stockpile of highly enriched uranium is estimated at 2,100 kilograms, or roughly one-tenth the size of such military reserves held by the U.K. or France, which have large and well-developed nuclear programs, said Christopher.

The new facility will be North Korea’s largest publicly known uranium enrichment site upon completion. The massive expansion shows Kim plans to greatly expand a nuclear program that has defied pressure from great powers such as the U.S. and China and has rattled its neighbors in Asia.

While for years China pressured North Korea to halt the development of nuclear weapons, it has recently stopped such demands, at least outwardly. During a visit earlier this week to Pyongyang, Chinese leader Xi Jinping didn’t mention denuclearization publicly at all.

Kim’s expansion of his nuclear arsenal also means he’s unlikely to pursue a deal with other powers, particularly the U.S., who have offered relief from sanctions in return for a reduction in North Korea’s nuclear program.

North Korea currently has an estimated 60 nuclear warheads, plus enough fissile material to make at least 90 more, according to a new estimate by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. That is an increase from roughly 50 warheads in 2025.

Kim has been flaunting the latest expansion of his nuclear weapons program. Last week he inspected the new uranium-enrichment site, which is located at the heart of the country’s main Yongbyon nuclear complex and is bigger than anything North Korea has shown publicly before.

In images carried by North Korean state media, the dictator strolled past rows of metal centrifuges and promised to carry out “larger plans” for the country’s nuclear program. He praised scientists for more than doubling the country’s “weapons-grade nuclear material production” capacity.

“This nuclear potential that we have now,” Kim said, “is inconceivable.”

Vertic calculated its estimates for the expanded uranium-enrichment capacity based on historical data of similar centrifuges, satellite imagery to determine the building’s dimensions, and other modeling.

The new facility was built in roughly 18 months, with satellite imagery showing construction work started in late 2024, said Jaewoo Shin, a co-author of the report and senior analyst at research group Open Nuclear Network.

“It is significant that this facility was placed in the middle of Yongbyon, and not somewhere deep in the mountains that the external community is not looking at,” Shin said. “It was there to be found.”

The Kim regime could also be expanding uranium enrichment in anticipation of needing new supplies for a nuclear sub North Korea has under development, said Hailey Wingo, a co-author of the Vertic analysis.

It was just seven years ago that during nuclear talks with President Trump in Hanoi, North Korea offered to dismantle Yongbyon in exchange for sanctions relief. But Trump wanted a broader deal that included the Kim regime’s undeclared nuclear sites. Talks collapsed.

Today, Yongbyon remains central to the regime’s expanding nuclear ambitions. In addition to enrichment, the site has seen an uptick of activity at a 5-megawatt reactor, a reprocessing unit and a relatively new light-water reactor, constituting a “very serious increase” in North Korea’s capabilities, Rafael Grossi, the United Nations’ atomic chief, said.

North Korea doesn’t disclose its uranium output, targets or timelines. It has previously acknowledged to U.S. officials that it enriches uranium at Yongbyon. Separately, North Korean state media in 2024 published photos of Kim touring a site at another location.

Kim Jong Un recently inspected a new mammoth facility that dramatically boosts Pyongyang’s ability to make nuclear bombs

North Korea’s uranium-enrichment capacity could expand by 75% with a new Yongbyon facility, signaling leader Kim Jong Un’s intent to expand his arsenal.

The new facility at Yongbyon is estimated to house over 9,000 centrifuges, capable of producing 160 kilograms of highly enriched uranium annually.

North Korea has an estimated 60 nuclear warheads, up from 50 in 2025, and enough fissile material for 90 more.

SEOUL—North Korea’s uranium-enrichment capacity could soon expand by 75% once a new facility reaches full production, a clear signal that leader Kim Jong Un intends to expand his arsenal in defiance of international pressure.

The new facility in Yongbyon is estimated to house more than 9,000 centrifuges capable of producing roughly 160 kilograms of highly enriched uranium a year, according to Vertic, a London-based nonprofit that helps governments implement and verify international arms-control agreements. Previously, North Korea could produce roughly 215 kilograms of highly enriched uranium annually, according to Vertic.

“North Korea probably has all the material they’d need for a medium-sized nuclear arsenal already. And now it looks like they’re running up the numbers,” said Grant Christopher, one of the authors of the Vertic analysis, who co-leads the group’s verification and monitoring program. “We don’t see any evidence they’re going to stop any time soon.”

North Korea’s total stockpile of highly enriched uranium is estimated at 2,100 kilograms, or roughly one-tenth the size of such military reserves held by the U.K. or France, which have large and well-developed nuclear programs, said Christopher.

The new facility will be North Korea’s largest publicly known uranium enrichment site upon completion. The massive expansion shows Kim plans to greatly expand a nuclear program that has defied pressure from great powers such as the U.S. and China and has rattled its neighbors in Asia.

While for years China pressured North Korea to halt the development of nuclear weapons, it has recently stopped such demands, at least outwardly. During a visit earlier this week to Pyongyang, Chinese leader Xi Jinping didn’t mention denuclearization publicly at all.

Kim’s expansion of his nuclear arsenal also means he’s unlikely to pursue a deal with other powers, particularly the U.S., who have offered relief from sanctions in return for a reduction in North Korea’s nuclear program.

North Korea currently has an estimated 60 nuclear warheads, plus enough fissile material to make at least 90 more, according to a new estimate by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. That is an increase from roughly 50 warheads in 2025.

Kim has been flaunting the latest expansion of his nuclear weapons program. Last week he inspected the new uranium-enrichment site, which is located at the heart of the country’s main Yongbyon nuclear complex and is bigger than anything North Korea has shown publicly before.

In images carried by North Korean state media, the dictator strolled past rows of metal centrifuges and promised to carry out “larger plans” for the country’s nuclear program. He praised scientists for more than doubling the country’s “weapons-grade nuclear material production” capacity.

“This nuclear potential that we have now,” Kim said, “is inconceivable.”

Vertic calculated its estimates for the expanded uranium-enrichment capacity based on historical data of similar centrifuges, satellite imagery to determine the building’s dimensions, and other modeling.

The new facility was built in roughly 18 months, with satellite imagery showing construction work started in late 2024, said Jaewoo Shin, a co-author of the report and senior analyst at research group Open Nuclear Network.

“It is significant that this facility was placed in the middle of Yongbyon, and not somewhere deep in the mountains that the external community is not looking at,” Shin said. “It was there to be found.”

The Kim regime could also be expanding uranium enrichment in anticipation of needing new supplies for a nuclear sub North Korea has under development, said Hailey Wingo, a co-author of the Vertic analysis.

It was just seven years ago that during nuclear talks with President Trump in Hanoi, North Korea offered to dismantle Yongbyon in exchange for sanctions relief. But Trump wanted a broader deal that included the Kim regime’s undeclared nuclear sites. Talks collapsed.

Today, Yongbyon remains central to the regime’s expanding nuclear ambitions. In addition to enrichment, the site has seen an uptick of activity at a 5-megawatt reactor, a reprocessing unit and a relatively new light-water reactor, constituting a “very serious increase” in North Korea’s capabilities, Rafael Grossi, the United Nations’ atomic chief, said.

North Korea doesn’t disclose its uranium output, targets or timelines. It has previously acknowledged to U.S. officials that it enriches uranium at Yongbyon. Separately, North Korean state media in 2024 published photos of Kim touring a site at another location.

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