Dial *611 to Activate Your New CEO
by John Paczkowski
Posted on December 18, 2007 at 1:48 PM PT
Sprint Nextel ended its two-month search for a new chief executive today, offering Dan Hesse ousted CEO Gary Forsee’s old office.
Hesse was formerly the CEO of Embarq, a local telco that Sprint spun off last year, and once ran AT&T’s mobile-phone business, so he’s certainly got the chops for the job. “His history in wireless is impeccable,” said IAG Research analyst Roger Entner. “He is certainly the best person that is currently available. Dan did a miraculous job at AT&T Wireless. If they would have kept him on as CEO, the wireless industry would look very different. AT&T would have remained a force to be reckoned with, rather than a company that just sort of withered away.”
Perhaps. Question is, can Hesse work similar miracles at Sprint, where operational troubles, falling subscriber numbers and declining profits are dragging the company deep into the mud.
