John Walter leaves AT&T...
Brian A. LaMacchia (bal@martigny.ai.mit.edu)
Wed, 16 Jul 1997 22:35:10 -0400
Buried in all the news about the White House "Internet Content Forum" was
an announcement by AT&T that John Walter is leaving the company. Walter
was hired from R. R. Donnelly nine months ago after Alex Mandl (Bob Allen's
then-designated heir) left. Walter became COO and the new designated heir
to the Chairman's office. His contract included a clause granting him a
$30M buyout option if he didn't become Chairman within three years.
The claim is the triggering event for the departure was the failure of
AT&T's Board of Directors to appoint Walter CEO now, which was part of an
agreed-to timetable.
Walter gets to keep his $3.8M salary for this year and the $22M bonus he
received to leave Donnelly. I bet he gets to keep the options, too.
--bal