Mediaone Ex-CEO covets comeback
JENNIFER HELDT POWELL
04/25/1999 Boston Herald (Copyright 1999)
Page 024
AT&T officials weren't quite sure they wanted to buy MediaOne. That is, until they talked to the pioneer who founded the cable network.
Amos B. Hostetter convinced them that although it would be a costly move, it would pay off in the long run, said Leo J. Hindry Jr., president and chief executive of AT&T's broadband and Internet services unit.
"I had looked at these assets with hunger for a long time, but we looked at whether we could justify it," he said. With Hostetter on board, AT&T officials decided they could make money. "He walks on water as far as this industry is concerned," Hindry said.
If the deal goes through, Hostetter will join AT&T's board of directors and become non-executive chairman of the cable unit, working with Hindry.
For Hostetter, it's a chance to return to the company he created from scratch in 1963. A Harvard Business School graduate, Hostetter started Continental Cablevision. It was later bought by Colorado Baby Bell U.S. West, and later spun off as MediaOne Group Inc.
Hostetter left MediaOne when U.S. West suddenly moved its headquarters from the Bay State to Colorado against his expectations and advice. He remains MediaOne 's largest shareholder. Because of a deal with the firm, Hostetter said he can't comment on the AT&T bid.
Since leaving MediaOne , he has promoted his philanthropic interests through the Barr Foundation. But he began working up a deal when MediaOne was put up for sale, industry insiders said.
"He's getting his cake and eating it, too," said Yankee Group analyst Bruce Leichtman. "He's having someone buy his company and he's reaping the benefits."
It's not necessarily a vendetta, but he would also be turning out the people who he felt didn't do well by him and his company, Leichtman said.
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