As we went to press yesterday, AT&T announced that its president and chief operating officer John Walter had resigned after only nine months at the company. Walters had been expected to suceed current CEO Robert Allen by the end of the year but has failed to convince the AT&T board that he was capable. Yesterday, it voted not to promote him to chief executive officer. Walter resigned as president immediately and also stepped down as a director of the company. Under the terms of his contract Walter collects apporximately $3.8m in seperation payments as well as a compensation package of $22m for luring him away from his previous position as chairman at printer R.R. Donnelley & Sons. At the time questions were raised as to his ability to effectively lead AT&T in the highly competitive telecommunications market. I believe I am perfectly qualified to be CEO of AT&T right now, said Walters after his resignation. AT&T now begins the lengthy process of looking for a replacement. It says it has set up a committee of directors to find a successor to Allen as CEO. No time scale was given for the search.
