Ben Wolff will no longer be CEO of Clearwire, the company announced today.
Industry veteran Bill Morrow will take Wolff’s place as CEO. Wolff has been re-assigned as co-chairman, a position he will share with current chairman Craig McCaw. In his new role, Wolff will focus on strategy, finance and managing the relationships with Clearwire’s investment partners.
The move comes as Clearwire prepares to build out a nationwide mobile WiMAX network. John Stanton, who spoke on behalf of the company, said Morrow’s operating experience makes him well suited for the task at hand. “Now, clearly the focus is to turn the operation and bring it to scale,” said Stanton in a conference call. “You’d be hard-pressed to find very many people who have the operating resume that Bill has.”
Morrow has a long history in telecommunications. He recently served as president and CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric in San Francisco, where he helped overhaul the company’s efficiency, supply chain and customer focus.
Prior to PG&E, Morrow held a number of senior executive positions at Vodafone’s United Kingdom, Europe and Japan segments. He also served as president of Japan Telecom Co. and held senior executive positions with wireless carrier AirTouch International.
