Sprint Nextel CEO Resigns

Wireless carrier begins search for successor as customer base dwindles
By John Barley,  Newser User
Posted Oct 9, 2007 3:45 AM CDT
Sprint Nextel CEO Resigns
Various models of phones are displayed on a computer screen as a customer is helped at a Sprint store in this Feb. 28, 2007 file photo, in Murray, Utah. Wireless provider Sprint Nextel Corp. on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007 said second-quarter profits dropped sharply on takeover costs and expenses tied to...   (Associated Press)

Sprint Nextel Corp. chief Gary Forsee has stepped down after the wireless giant warned investors that the company is struggling to maintain its high-value client base and would not meet its previous financial goals, the Wall Street Journal reports. The exec is credited with Sprint’s 2005 acquisition of Nextel but found it difficult to merge the two companies’ divergent cultures.

As part of his exit package, Forsee asked the board to move Sprint’s headquarters back to Kansas from Virginia, where the company moved following the merger, to be located close to most of its employees. Severance payments for the ex-CEO are valued as high as $55.5 million. The company is now focused on efforts to find candidates outside the company to replace Forsee. (More Sprint Nextel stories.)

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