Arun Sarin steps down as Vodafone Chief – Indian Media is "shocked" & "stunned"

On Tuesday May 27th 2008, there were reports that Arun Sarin was to step down as CEO of Vodafone:

Arun Sarin, the chief executive who safeguarded mobile company Vodafone’s dominance among mobile operators by expanding into emerging markets, announced his departure on Tuesday, saying he had achieved all he had set out to do. He will be replaced by his deputy, Vittorio Colao, in July.

Analysts welcomed the smooth transition at the top of the world’s largest mobile phone group by revenue but said that it had come slightly earlier than expected. [Reuters]

Later the same day (and even today) News channels on TV were reporting the same and associating exclamations such as “stunning” and “shocking” with it! E.g.: “Arun Sarin — stunned the corporate world by stepping down as the CEO of one of the world’s biggest telecom company” [Times Now]. I wonder what is so stunning in that? Sensational-ism? Gather-Eyeballs-ism? Sarin had achieved what he had set out to do – make Vodafone one of the biggest Telecom companies in the World (It is the biggest in terms of revenue). He took over when Vodafone was facing turbulent times and with his stratagem of consolidating into emerging markets and reducing tariffs and introducing new revenue segments. He spearheaded Vodafone’s takeover of Hutchison Essar last year which turned out be his biggest success.