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Demant Names Bassel Rifai President of Hearing Aids
Bassel Rifai will lead Demant’s Hearing Aids business as Søren Nielsen shifts full focus to his Group President & CEO role.Geschrieben von
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Aktualisiert am May 18, 2026
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Demant—the Denmark-based parent company of Oticon, Bernafon, HearingLife, and several leading hearing-related diagnostic equipment companies—has appointed Bassel Rifai as President of its Hearing Aids business area, effective June 1, 2026. Rifai will also join Demant’s Executive Leadership Team, where he will help guide the company’s broader strategic direction.
The move allows Søren Nielsen, Demant’s President & CEO, to step away from his additional role leading the Hearing Aids business and concentrate fully on his responsibilities at the Group level. Nielsen has held both positions since becoming CEO in 2017, a period during which Demant nearly doubled in size.
Søren Nielsen, President & CEO of Demant.I am pleased to welcome Bassel Rifai as the new President of Hearing Aids and member of Demant’s Executive Leadership Team. With a strategic mindset, Bassel brings a strong combination of a background in engineering and deep commercial leadership experience in medical technologies. With his in-depth understanding of healthcare markets, I am confident that Bassel, supported by the Hearing Aids leadership team and thousands of dedicated and passionate colleagues around the world, is the right profile to ensure that our Hearing Aids business continues to deliver industry-leading innovation and growth.
According to the company, the leadership change is intended to support continued execution of Demant’s strategy while creating greater focus across the Group’s businesses. With Nielsen now dedicating his full attention to Demant’s overall performance and long-term priorities, Demant says it sees further opportunity for value creation and collaboration across its portfolio.
Rifai brings extensive experience from the medical technology sector. He most recently served at Ambu, where he was Executive Vice President and President of EMEA & APAC. He also previously held the role of Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Ambu.
Before joining Ambu, Rifai spent several years at Johnson & Johnson, where he held senior leadership roles in global and U.S. marketing, general management, sales, and regional orthopedic operations. Earlier in his career, he worked in healthcare-focused management consulting at McKinsey & Company.
“I’m very excited to join Demant at an important point in its growth journey,” said Rifai in a press statement.“ The company has a proud 120-year legacy and impressive track record of innovation and growth, with even more potential ahead to address hearing loss. I am inspired by the company’s purpose, to create life-changing differences through hearing health. And I look forward to leading the Hearing Aids organisation to advance our market position and deliver meaningful outcomes for users and customers.”
Rifai holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from UCLA.
SOURCE: Demant
