Clearwire CEO Resigns

Clearwire named its chairman John Stanton as interim CEO, after Bill Morrow resigned from the position citing personal reasons. Stanton, a former CEO of VoiceStream Wireless which later became T-Mobile USA, takes over immediately while the Wimax operator seeks a replacement. Stanton became chairman in January, after serving as a director of the company since November 2008. Morrow will continue to serve as an advisor to the company during the transition period. The company has appointed a search committee, chaired by board member Dennis Hersch, to lead the hiring process for a new CEO. At the same time, Clearwire CFO Erik Prusch has been promoted to the newly created position of chief operating officer (COO). In this position, Prusch will be responsible for the company's day-to-day operations, including wholesale and retail sales, marketing, customer service, supply chain, human resources, IT and network operations. In addition, Hope Cochran, Clearwire's senior vice president and treasurer, has been promoted to the position of CFO. Cochran will be responsible for all of the company's financial and investor related functions, including overseeing Clearwire's ongoing fundraising efforts. The company also announced that Mike Sievert, chief commercial officer, and Kevin Hart, CIO, are both leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Clearwire said the management changes "are not expected to impact the company's progress on an agreement with Sprint to resolve wholesale pricing disputes", and the company "believes that an agreement with Sprint is imminent".