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Sep 21, 2017

Akamai promotes deputy to new general counsel

Aaron Ahola will succeed Melanie Haratunian, who is retiring, effective October 1

Akamai Technologies’ deputy general counsel Aaron Ahola will succeed Melanie Haratunian as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at the start of next month.

Haratunian is retiring after 14 years as Akamai’s general counsel. As part of the transition and what the firm calls a ‘planned succession,’ she will remain with the company in an advisory role reporting to Akamai CEO and co-founder Dr Tom Leighton.

Ahola joined Akamai in 2000 and has served in the roles of assistant general counsel, deputy general counsel, chief privacy officer and chief compliance officer. His work at the cloud delivery platform firm has included M&A, global compliance, litigation management, patent and intellectual property, international regulations, commercial contracting, employment, risk management and public policy.

‘I am delighted to announce Aaron’s promotion to general counsel,’ Leighton says in a statement. ‘Aaron is a skilled and trusted adviser with a deep understanding of Akamai’s technology and ecosystem. He has been instrumental in fostering a culture of trust, innovation, compliance and integrity across our global business, while protecting our intellectual property and patent portfolio…

‘I want to thank Melanie for all she has contributed to Akamai as general counsel. [She] set the highest standards for integrity and professionalism during her long tenure here at Akamai, having built our world-class legal, public policy and compliance teams over a period of tremendous growth for the company.’

Ben Maiden

Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...