Nortel President and COO Leaves, CTO Goes With Him

Nortel Networks’ President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Daichendt has decided to leave the company because of a difference of business views with CEO Bill Owens.

Daichendt was only with Nortel for three months. Before that he worked for Cisco Systems, as did Nortel Chief Technology Officer, Gary Kunis. Kunis has also decided to leave Nortel.

“Gary (Daichendt) has made a major contribution to Nortel during his time here and has added value to our strategic initiatives and business plan,” commented Owens. “It has become apparent to Gary and me, however, that we have divergent management styles and our business views differ. I respect him for his decision and I wish him every success in his future endeavors.” Bloomberg News reports:

The departures put more responsibility back on Owens, 65, as he seeks to revive the company’s business and regain customers’ confidence after unraveling $3.23 billion in misreported sales and costs dating back to 1999. Daichendt said when he was hired that he’d be interested in eventually taking the CEO post from Owens.

Nortel’s faulty accounting led to the restatement, the ouster of 10 executives, and criminal and regulatory probes in the U.S. and Canada. Owens, a retired admiral and former vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, was named CEO last April after Nortel fired Frank Dunn.

“You can be certain that we will continue to focus on operational excellence as a broad-based carrier and enterprise networking company,” said Owens. “We have a strong business and technology team with significant depth and experience that we will continue to build on.”

The resignations of Mr. Daichendt and Mr. Kunis are effective immediately. Owens will be taking over presidential and COO duties. He is also the Nortel’s Vice Chairman.

Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.