Update: Nortel axes CEO, two top execs

IDG News Service - Nortel Networks Ltd. announced today that it has fired its president and CEO, replacing Frank Dunn with William Owens. The Brampton, Ontario-based company also delayed the release of its financial results for the first quarter of the year. It was due to report those results tomorrow.
Former Chief Financial Officer Douglas Beatty and former Controller Michael Gollogly have also been terminated for cause, the company said.
"Yesterday was a very long day for the board and its advisers," said Lynton "Red" Wilson, chairman of the board, in a telephone conference call with the media and analysts. "These actions are an important step in the process of restoring confidence in the company's leadership and financial reporting."
The telecommunications equipment maker is currently the subject of investigations by both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Canada's top securities regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission.
Nortel has been involved in an ongoing independent review of the circumstances leading to the reissuing of its financial statements for 2000, 2001 and 2002 and for the first and second quarters of 2003, the company said in a statement. As a result of those investigations, Dunn was "terminated for cause," Nortel said.
"We are cooperating with all of the regulation authorities, and we will continue to do so," Wilson said. "This is about the accountability for financial reporting. The investigations are ongoing, and it would be inappropriate to comment further."
In March, Nortel placed Beatty and Gollogly on paid leaves of absence due to questions about the company's 2003 financial results. At the time, Nortel appointed William Kerr as CFO and MaryAnne Pahapill as controller on an interim basis. The company has now made those appointments permanent.
Owens, who has been serving as a director on Nortel's board since February 2002, was until this appointment the chairman and CEO of Teledesic LLC. He had been with the Kirkland, Wash.-based satellite communications company since August 1999 and had been Teledesic's CEO since June 2003. His resume also includes stints as the president, chief operating officer and vice chairman of Science Applications International Corp. in San Diego, as well as a military career that included serving as vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and as the commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet during Operation Desert Storm.

Owens "brings very strong leadership qualities to bring the company forward," Wilson said.
Owens was quick to try to reassure Nortel's customers and shareholders. "To our customers I say, 'We will not let this distract us,'" he said. "To our