Sprint Nextel’s Hesse fires top execs, including Saleh

On the heels of AT&T Mobility’s record-breaking quarter, Sprint Nextel Corp. is showing a trio of senior executives the front door.
Many in the industry expected new CEO Dan Hesse to come in swinging and he has – by all measures.
Friday will be the last day for CFO Paul Saleh, CMO Tim Kelly and Mark Angelino, president of sales and distribution.
“We were pleased to see (Hesse) make some management moves but note that it will take more than firing some people to turn around the business,” Walter Piecyk wrote in a note for analyst firm Pali Research. “We believe there are others in management that should also be targeted in order to complete a remaking of the team including technology, handset development and customer service. Most importantly, however, we believe Sprint needs change at the board level.”
Piecyk added that all board members are up for re-election this spring and even went so far as to target specific members that the firm believes should be the first to go.
Permanent replacements for the outgoing executives have yet to be named. “Permanent leaders will be named in conjunction with review of overall strategy and an effort to streamline operations,” Hesse said in a prepared statement. “I have no predetermined timeframe in filling these positions but plan to act as quickly as possible as I consider both internal and external candidates.”
Hesse tapped three existing executives to fill in the positions until replacements are chosen. William Arendt, senior VP and controller, will serve as acting CFO; John Garcia, senior VP of product development and management, will serve as acting CMO; and Paget Alves, regional president for sales and distribution, will serve as acting president of sales and distribution.
Company stock remained relatively stable following the news, and has yet to recover from the single-day 25% drop it suffered last week.
Less than a week ago, the No. 3 carrier announced it would cut 4,000 jobs and close 8% of its stores after losing 683,000 postpaid subscribers and 202,000 prepaid users during the fourth quarter of last year. The layoffs marked the second time in a year that Sprint Nextel has cut thousands of jobs. The company laid off 5,000 employees in January 2007 after it reported significant losses on postpaid iDEN customers. The company counted about 60,000 employees before this latest cut, which is expected to be completed in the first half of the year.
Hesse is also said to be considering a plan that would move the company’s headquarters back to Overland Park, Kan., which is where the carrier operated exclusively from before it acquired Nextel Communications Inc. in 2005. The combined company has since made its official home in Reston, Va., where Nextel maintained its offices.