Tweet
December 30, 2010, 7:23 PM EST
By Olga Kharif
(Updates with company comment in third paragraph.)
Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Clearwire Corp., a company creating a nationwide high-speed wireless network using WiMax technology, said Chairman Craig McCaw will step down tomorrow.
McCaw, a 61-year-old pioneer of the cell-phone industry, informed Kirkland, Washington-based Clearwire yesterday that he was leaving, according to a regulatory filing.
“McCaw’s decision to resign is not due to any disagreements with the company on any matters relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices,” Clearwire said in the filing.
Clearwire, which has struggled to raise enough funding to build out and operate its network, said last month that it may run out of cash as early as the middle of next year. The carrier announced plans to cut 15 percent of its workforce, and it reduced sales and marketing spending.
McCaw was originally nominated to the position by Eagle River Holdings LLC, one of Clearwire’s biggest shareholders. Eagle River has the right to nominate a director to replace McCaw and intends to choose Benjamin Wolff, according to the filing. Wolff, who was a co-chairman of Clearwire until early 2009, is chief executive officer of ICO Global Communications Holdings Ltd.
Clearwire rose 8 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $5.22 on the Nasdaq Stock Market today. The shares have lost 23 percent of their value this year.
Susan Johnston, a Clearwire spokeswoman, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
--Editors: Nick Turner, Lisa Wolfson
To contact the reporter on this story: Olga Kharif in Portland, Oregon, at okharif@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lisa Wolfson at lwolfson@bloomberg.net
Online Business Consulting | Internet Business Consulting
(Updates with company comment in third paragraph.)
Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Clearwire Corp., a company creating a nationwide high-speed wireless network using WiMax technology, said Chairman Craig McCaw will step down tomorrow.
McCaw, a 61-year-old pioneer of the cell-phone industry, informed Kirkland, Washington-based Clearwire yesterday that he was leaving, according to a regulatory filing.
“McCaw’s decision to resign is not due to any disagreements with the company on any matters relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices,” Clearwire said in the filing.
Clearwire, which has struggled to raise enough funding to build out and operate its network, said last month that it may run out of cash as early as the middle of next year. The carrier announced plans to cut 15 percent of its workforce, and it reduced sales and marketing spending.
McCaw was originally nominated to the position by Eagle River Holdings LLC, one of Clearwire’s biggest shareholders. Eagle River has the right to nominate a director to replace McCaw and intends to choose Benjamin Wolff, according to the filing. Wolff, who was a co-chairman of Clearwire until early 2009, is chief executive officer of ICO Global Communications Holdings Ltd.
Clearwire rose 8 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $5.22 on the Nasdaq Stock Market today. The shares have lost 23 percent of their value this year.
Susan Johnston, a Clearwire spokeswoman, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
--Editors: Nick Turner, Lisa Wolfson
To contact the reporter on this story: Olga Kharif in Portland, Oregon, at okharif@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lisa Wolfson at lwolfson@bloomberg.net
Online Business Consulting | Internet Business Consulting