Sprint Nextel said Chief Financial Officer Paul Saleh and two other
top executives would leave the company in a new management
shake-up as the No. 3 U.S. mobile service grapples with
subscriber declines.
NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp said
on Thursday Chief Financial Officer Paul Saleh and two other
top executives would leave the company in a new management
shake-up as the No. 3 U.S. mobile service grapples with
subscriber declines.
The announcement is the second major move in less than a
week by Sprint's new Chief Executive Dan Hesse, who was
appointed in December to stem the company's market share losses
to bigger rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
Sprint shares rose 1.7 percent in pre-market trading from
its New York Stock Exchange close of $8.71.
Saleh will leave the company on Friday, along with Chief
Marketing Officer Tim Kelly and president of sales and
distribution, Mark Angelino. Saleh had served as Sprint's
acting CEO while it conducted a search for a permanent leader.
Last week, the company reported deeper than expected
subscriber losses and said it would cut about 4,000 jobs as it
lost ground to bigger rivals. The news sent Sprint shares down
nearly 25 percent and raised fears of a wider slowdown in the
U.S. wireless industry.
But AT&T reported on Thursday better-than-expected wireless
subscriber results for the fourth quarter, adding 2.7 million
net wireless customers compared with an average forecast of 1.9
million, based on four analysts contacted by Reuters.
Hesse said the company has no set time frame to fill the
roles, but would name permanent replacements after a review of
its overall strategy.
Sprint controller William Arendt will serve as acting CFO
in the interim. John Garcia, senior vice president of product
development, will be acting chief marketing officer and Paget
Alves, regional president for sales and distribution, will be
acting president of the sales and distribution division.
Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications
and Vodafone Group Plc.
(Reporting by Michele Gershberg, editing by Gerald E.
McCormick)
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