Carli Fiorina left LU. LU collapsed. Dan Listwin left CSCO. CSCO collapsed. Prabhu is leaving ALA...
Every time a big shoot or possible successor leaves, the company bites the dust.
Learn how to recognize a trend is very important for investors.
IT raises some questions too:
1) Is Prabhu out of favor due to the US tanked? Remember that he was the one that engineerred the buying of DSC and New bridge.
2) Is ALA's infatuation with the US market ending?
Prabhu to quit Alcatel for his family's sake
By Raphael Minder in Paris
Published: July 25 2001 18:03GMT | Last Updated: July 25 2001 21:03GMT
Krish Prabhu, chief operating officer of Alcatel, the French telecommunications equipment maker, is to step down. The news follows Alcatel's warning in May that it will report its first loss in six years on Wednesday and failed merger talks with Lucent Technologies, its troubled US competitor.
Mr Prabhu (left) was seen as the likely successor to Serge Tchuruk, 63, chief executive. But Mr Prabhu, 46, said he could no longer reconcile wanting to spend more time with his family in Dallas and helping to run a Paris-based group.
Alcatel has warned that it will on Thursday report a second-quarter loss of about E3bn ($2.6bn), including a E3bn charge related to slowing demand and restructuring.
The company plans to halve the number of its factories and cut 2,500 jobs in the US. On Wednesday, the company also announced it would cut 500 jobs in its Canadian operations to "gain efficiencies" in its operating budget.
Mr Prabhu oversaw Alcatel's expansion in North America, including the $4.4bn acquisition of DSC Communications and last year's $7.1bn takeover of Newbridge Networks, a Canadian maker of data switches.
He rejected the idea that he was going when Alcatel needed him. "My own perception is that the whole sector has bottomed out. My only reason for leaving is that I want . . . better balance in my personal life. There's never a good time to leave. When times are good, you leave the investors expecting a calamity and when times are bad, investors believe that your departure will impact the recovery."
Mr Prabhu will continue advising Mr Tchuruk and will sit on Alcatel's board. He also hinted at a possible comeback should the top job become vacant.
Mr Prabhu said: "I would like to think that, a couple of years down the road, if I am the right candidate, I will have a good shot (at becoming CEO). If Alcatel wants me back, I surely will come back." |
