Telecom & Wireless

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) CEO Faces Firing Squad

The board of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) has told CEO Pat Russo that she needs to come up with an "emergency restructuring plan" for the company, according to the FT. It’s hard to say what took them so long. Shares in the telecommunications equipment company are down over 30% this year. The company seems to cut its earnings estimates every month.

Research firm Dresdner Kleinwort has just calling on Alcatel-Lucent to replace Ms Russo with Mike Quigley, former chief operating officer. It cut its rating on the company to "hold" and suggested that a new restructuring plan should plan for firing 30,000 people, not the 12,500 that management has set as a target.

While the FT says that the board has not told Ms. Russo that here job is on the line, investors should hope that she has already figured that out.

The time for her to leave has already passed.

Douglas A. McIntrye

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