Yet another executive is exiting through Sprint Nextel Corp.’s revolving front-office door.
The carrier said last week that Mark Schweitzer will step down from his post as chief marketing officer at the end of the month. Tim Kelly, who currently oversees the operator’s Customer Management business, will replace Schweitzer.
Kelly is charged with developing Sprint Nextel’s national marketing strategy including its transition to ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, which the carrier tapped last month.
Senior VP of Finance Operations Steve Nielsen will fill Kelly’s shoes as chief service officer at Customer Management. Both Kelly and Nielsen will report to Gary Forsee, who took the reins as CEO when Len Lauer stepped down last August from the No. 3 carrier for Qualcomm Inc. where he is currently executive V.P. and group president. Forsee was also named company chairman in December, replacing retired former Nextel Communications Inc. CEO Tim Donahue.
Acquisition cited in moves
The Schweitzer announcement follows the departure earlier this year of Paul Reddick and John Styers, both of whom were key executives in Sprint Nextel’s content and mobile advertising businesses. Reddick, who served 10 years at Sprint Nextel and held V.P. positions in business development and strategy, joined the board of directors of application distributor Handmark Inc. last month.
Styers left his post as general manager of mobile advertising to form Moblico L.L.C. with fellow former Sprint Nextel executive Pierre Barbeau, who left the carrier at the same time as Styers and Reddick. The startup serves as a kind of consulting firm both for brands and ad agencies looking to wireless as well as for mobile application developers marketing their wares to carriers and consumers.
The flurry of activity near the top of the management chain is likely due to aftershocks from Sprint Corp.’s acquisition of Nextel more than 18 months ago, according to wireless veteran Bob White of Pennington Consulting Group.
“If you picture the personnel chain as a pyramid, the higher you are, the thinner the air gets; the fewer jobs there are,” White said. “Every time there’s a merger, people leave.”
Sprint Nextel not alone
Sprint Nextel isn’t the only service provider doing the executive shuffle, of course. Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C., which coincidently runs on Sprint Nextel’s CDMA network, earlier this year lost chief information officer Mike Parks, who helped launch the mobile virtual network operator in the United States four years ago.
PopCap Games this week will announce the hiring of Andrew Stein, who most recently served as the senior marketing manager of games for AT&T Mobility’s Media Mall.
And in one of the biggest recent moves, AT&T Mobility last week announced the resignation of Jim Ryan from his post as VP of consumer and business data services. Ryan joined AT&T-then known as Cingular Wireless L.L.C.-in 2003, and oversaw several major initiatives including the carrier’s recently launched full-track download service and the overhaul of its wireless Web offering in 2005. The high-profile executive also was involved with the carrier’s mobile video service, which launched last year.
“He decided to look for other things to do,” spokesman Mark Siegel said, adding that he had no details regarding Ryan’s plans. “It was something he wanted to do and we wish him all the best.”
Indeed, there’s nothing new about executives leaving the carrier nest in search of a big payday. Jason Ford, who once spearheaded Sprint Nextel’s aggressive mobile gaming business, last year signed on as vice president of Namco Networks.
Paul Palmieri left Verizon Wireless for a London-based venture capital firm before helping launch mobile advertising firm Millennial Media.
VCs fueling churn
And as venture capital continues to pour into wireless, it’s likely more senior-level managers will leave their network operator employers for a greener pastures, White said. Particularly given the potential for further consolidation in the carrier ranks.
“There is no security, really, with anybody. If someone is smart and at the top of their game, that’s when they’ll be looking to find another company to go with,” White opined. “And the seed money is certainly expanding the opportunities. Now that they have some seed money, the risk is reduced. And it’s all about risk.”
