Alcatel-Lucent sheds three top execs

Paris -- Technology equipment giant Alcatel-Lucent said three top executives would depart the Paris company in the wake of a second-quarter loss of $1.7 billion.

In a statement, the company said Chief Executive Officer Patricia Russo, Chairman Serge Tchuruk and former Chief Executive of Lucent Technologies Henry Schacht, a board member of the merged Alcatel-Lucent, would be leaving the company.

Schacht would leave "immediately," The New York Times reported. Tchuruk would leave by Oct. 1 and Russo when a successor could be found, the company said.

Lucent Technologies of New Jersey and Alcatel of Paris merged in November 2006 and has yet to post a profit, the Times reported. In the past 12 months, share values have declined 60 percent.

The executive changes would "pave the way for a fully aligned governance and management model going forward," the company said in a statement.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.