Nortel Fires CEO

Nortel Networks Corp. fired its president and CEO, Frank Dunn, today as well as its chief financial officer and controller. The termination of the top executives comes in the wake of mounting accounting trouble disclosures at the Toronto telecommunications equipment manufacturer.

Nortel named William Owens, who has been a director of the company since February 2002, as the new president and CEO. Previously, Owens was chairman and CEO of Teledesic LLC, a satellite communications company, and he served as vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Nortel’s board chairman, Lynton Wilson, said the firings are about accountability for financial reporting.

“These actions are an important step in the process of restoring confidence in the Company’s leadership and financial reporting,” Wilson said.

Nortel’s disclosures of faulty bookkeeping follow a rash of similar accounting scandals at numerous large companies in the telecommunications and IT sectors, including WorldCom Inc. (now called MCI Inc.), Computer Associates Inc. and Adelphia Communications Inc.

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