It's not Quigley: former BT boss Ben Verwaayen to head Alcatel-Lucent

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 02 September 2008 14:14

IT Industry - Strategy

The rumours that Australian Mike Quigley, a former Alcatel executive, would be named CEO of Alcatel-Lucent have been proved wrong: the company has named the former head of BT, Ben Verwaayen as CEO, and Philippe Camus as chairman.

Both posts have been vacant since Pat Russo was ousted last month along with chairman Serge Tchuruk after presiding over a precipitous decline in the company' share price since the merger in late 2006. Quigley had been in line for the top job at Alcatel at the time of the merger but was passed over in favour of Lucent CEO Russo to head the merged entity. Tchuruk had been CEO of Alcatel prior to the merger. Alcatel-Lucent has also announced his replacement, Philippe Camus. Verwaayen will also join the company's board. He will be based in Paris.

The market liked the idea of Quigley taking the reins: Alcatel-Lucent's share price rose almost three percent to €4.26 after Reuters first reported suggestions he was coming back. However it has a long way to go to get back to the €10.12 price when the merged entity started operating in lat 2006.

Verwaayen, 56 is a Dutch national and has many years of telecommunications and IT experience. He was CEO of BT from February 2002 to June 1, 2008 and before that vice-chairman of the management board of Lucent Technologies in the US, which he joined in September 1997. Prior to that, he worked with KPN in the Netherlands for nine years as president and managing director of its telecom subsidiary, PTT telecom and before that worked for ITT, a predecessor of Alcatel.

Camus, 60 is a French national and a US resident. He was the co-CEO at European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) and managed a large, global business in the high-tech industry. He is co-managing partner of Lagardère, an international media group, and a partner of Evercore Partners, a New York based investment and advisory firm.

At the time of the merger Quigley was COO of Lucent and was named to take on the same role in the merged company, be before the deal was consummated he announced that for "personal reasons" he would not take on the role.
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