December 31, 2010 Chairman of Clearwire Steps Down By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/business/01wire.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print Craig McCaw, the wireless pioneer, has resigned as chairman of the Clearwire Corporation days ahead of a deadline for a crucial financial decision by its majority shareholder, Sprint Nextel. Clearwire gave no reason for Mr. McCaw’s departure but said it was not a result of “any disagreements with the company on any matters relating to its operations, policies or practices.” Clearwire, which sells high-speed wireless access, is facing a cash squeeze as it needs billions of dollars to finish building a national network. Mr. McCaw nominated a former Clearwire chief executive, Ben Wolff, to replace him on the board. Mr. Wolff, a trusted right-hand man to Mr. McCaw, is widely seen on Wall Street as Mr. McCaw’s chief negotiator through Mr. McCaw’s Eagle River Holdings investment vehicle, which owns 4 percent of Clearwire. “He’s there to watch the investment. If Eagle River needs somebody at the table, they’d want Wolff in there; he’s a pit bull,” said Patrick Comack, an analyst at Zachary Investment Research. Sprint is expected to consider increasing its control of Clearwire and would need to negotiate with fellow stake holders like Eagle River to do so. The success of Clearwire is crucial to Sprint, which rents space on the Clearwire network for its own high-speed services. -- ======================================== George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
