Sprint Names New CEO
Dec 18, 2007, 9:00 AM by Eric M. Zeman
updated Dec 18, 2007, 3:22 PM
After a two-month search, Sprint has chosen Daniel Hesse as its new president and chief executive officer. Hesse, 54, has served as the CEO of AT&T's Wireless services, the CEO of Sprint's Local Telecommunications Division and most recently as the CEO of a Sprint spin-off called Embarq. Hesse replaces acting CEO Paul Saleh immediately. Sprint's Board of Directors hopes that Hesse can help revitalize Sprint's operations and position in the market.
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Comments
Hire someone in their 20's 30's?
I understand experience is key, but do you honestly think these old guys know much about those of us customers who use advanced phones and services?
These old CEO's are from the land-land age. They don't understand enough about wireless. Most wireless customers still use mainly voice, but they need to keep pushing them to upgrade. Text wasn't used all that much in the USA, now it's common place. We need a CEO who will buy great phones and market them well. I still think Sprint has the best offering, but no one seems to know how to market the company. And man do we get some bad phones!
Let's get a true Tech-Geek running Sprint, so they can do more with what they have.
These old CEO's are from the land-land age. They don't understand enough about wireless. Most wireless customers still use mainly voice, but they need to keep pushing them to upgrade. Text wasn't used all that much in the USA, now it's common place. We need a CEO who will buy great phones and market them well. I still think Sprint has the best offering, but no one seems to know how to market the company. And man do we get some bad phones!
Let's get a true Tech-Geek running Sprint, so they can do more with what they have.
Beginning of the End
If he drove one company to the ground, what makes you think he will not do that to another.
Man I am glad I got out when I did.
Man I am glad I got out when I did.
man you're makin' me cry. please explain why?
(claiming is one thing but proving is another thing)
(claiming is one thing but proving is another thing)
...
Mr. Hesse did not drive ATTWS into the ground. He built it into a formidable competitor. It took the next CEO to do that.
WHat you can count on from Mr. Hesse is that he will leverage the strengths of the company and turn around the marketing.
Co...
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WHat you can count on from Mr. Hesse is that he will leverage the strengths of the company and turn around the marketing.
Co...
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...
AT&T wireless died because of AT&T Comm. They did a lot to cause the company to fail. LEt's just hope this new guy understands the needs better then he did with AT&TW
Its not as bad as you say
He is not as bad as you say he is! This might be the guy to turn this company around!
Previously, Hesse spent 23 years at AT&T. From 1997 to 2000, he served as the president and chief executive officer of AT&T Wireless Services, at the time the United States’ largest wireless operator with over 12 million customers.
http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/410/ »
http://telephonyonline.com/mag/telecom_new_guy_dan/ »
One longtime analyst of Sprint, Jeff Kagan, said that appointing Hesse is "great news for Sprint," adding that Hesse "may be the perfect choice."
Hesse had headed AT&T's wireless operation in the 1990s, creating a "strong and innovative company," Kagan said.
His performance heading up Embarq has also been impressive, Ka...
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Previously, Hesse spent 23 years at AT&T. From 1997 to 2000, he served as the president and chief executive officer of AT&T Wireless Services, at the time the United States’ largest wireless operator with over 12 million customers.
http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/410/ »
http://telephonyonline.com/mag/telecom_new_guy_dan/ »
One longtime analyst of Sprint, Jeff Kagan, said that appointing Hesse is "great news for Sprint," adding that Hesse "may be the perfect choice."
Hesse had headed AT&T's wireless operation in the 1990s, creating a "strong and innovative company," Kagan said.
His performance heading up Embarq has also been impressive, Ka...
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Thats good to hear. Rumors were spreading that it was the CEO of ATT Wireless that ran for 6-8 months (or at least thats how longs it had seemed) before selling to Cingular. The way the company was ran at that time was insane.
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New CEO
Hope he gets his paycheck upfront! If he is lucky he has 12 months of a career left...
Correction about Embarq...
I don't know if this has been caught already or not, but Embarq was Sprint's local telephone provider, until the merger went through, and the local was spun-off and renamed Embarq...
Hopefully Eric or Rich will read this and correct it in the post...
Hopefully Eric or Rich will read this and correct it in the post...
there's no correction to be made really, because Embarq was reincorporated as a separate company with hesse as CEO
Wow.
Although this comment is totally unresearched - if this guy led AT&T Wireless then I doubt anyone can count on a "Sprint Comeback." I worked for AT&T Wireless for about three months before the Cingular buyout and it was the most f'd up company ever.
well why is that? 😳 please explain.
Actually during the time that AT&T Wireless was headed by Hesse, the company held the largest chunk of the wireless market share in North America. This of course, was back in the day when they were organically number one...ahead of the likes of Bell A...
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Setting the records straight
This new guy is NOT the guy that ran AT&T Wireless into the ground.
This guy was at AT&T Wireless during its brightest years(while under full AT&T control).
The guy that replaced him in 2000 WAS the guy that ran AT&T Wireless into the ground. That guy's name was John Zeglis. Around that time, AT&T Wireless was spun off into its own company(partially owned by NTT DoCoMo, like 9% I think).
Last I heard, Zeglis was a college professor at some small Liberal Arts school in Indiana.
In fact, here's a link to an interview with Zeglis(aka CEO that was even worse then Gary Forsee) after he let AT&T Wireless get bought out by Cingular: http://www.culver.org/news/News_Articles/Arti cles_0405/Zeglis%20USA%20Today.htm
This guy was at AT&T Wireless during its brightest years(while under full AT&T control).
The guy that replaced him in 2000 WAS the guy that ran AT&T Wireless into the ground. That guy's name was John Zeglis. Around that time, AT&T Wireless was spun off into its own company(partially owned by NTT DoCoMo, like 9% I think).
Last I heard, Zeglis was a college professor at some small Liberal Arts school in Indiana.
In fact, here's a link to an interview with Zeglis(aka CEO that was even worse then Gary Forsee) after he let AT&T Wireless get bought out by Cingular: http://www.culver.org/news/News_Articles/Arti cles_0405/Zeglis%20USA%20Today.htm
THE number one thing
wireless companies care about is....
REPUTATION
Can sprint bolster its reputation with this move?
Can they improve their service to a level that is respectable?
How long do people remember being treated like rubbish?
i mean, sure, you have a great network. But, people dont buy a network, they dont really care about all that stuff as much as one might think.
They buy into reputation; what mom said, what fred the neighbor said, what johnny the town drunk's half-sister's twin siamese cousin's great niece said.
REPUTATION
Can sprint bolster its reputation with this move?
Can they improve their service to a level that is respectable?
How long do people remember being treated like rubbish?
i mean, sure, you have a great network. But, people dont buy a network, they dont really care about all that stuff as much as one might think.
They buy into reputation; what mom said, what fred the neighbor said, what johnny the town drunk's half-sister's twin siamese cousin's great niece said.
beeferjay said:...
wireless companies care about is....
REPUTATION
Can sprint bolster its reputation with this move?
Can they improve their service to a level that is respectable?
How long do people remember being treate
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Negative Talk
Some of you seriously need to do a bit of research. Under this guy the company did very well, this was the period in time when digital really started to take off and AT&T Wireless was at the forefront of digital technology in wireless. Give the guy a chance, I don't think Sprint has much to lose at this point. Who knows maybe he can pull a repeat.
i agree, he's basically taken 2 companies and put them both at or near the top of their industry in the time he was in charge.
He knows wireless and he especially knows Sprint and where they have been for the last few years while he was at Embarq.
...
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He knows wireless and he especially knows Sprint and where they have been for the last few years while he was at Embarq.
...
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My bet's on you!
i just hope that sprint would be back on it's track with its new ceo. well anyway saleh was already making progress this past few months but he might have came short and maybe the board of directors wants drastic changes to take effect right away since sprint hasn't been projecting positively on the market. i don't really have any idea on what this new ceo can do but it's make or break for sprint this coming year so i'm putting all my bets on this guy.
I remember that short period of time... dear god I hope it isn't the same person.
...
Saleh (who is the CFO) was only acting in the interim while the search was ongoing.
