Nortel President Resigns after Clash with CEO

Nortel Networks Corp., has said that its President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Daichendt has resigned from his post with immediate effect due to differences on business issues with the CEO of the company.

The duties of Gary Daichendt, the outgoing president and COO, will now be assumed by Nortel Networks’ chief executive and vice chairman, Bill Owens.

"It has become apparent to Gary and me that we have divergent management styles and our business views differ," Owens said in a statement.

Daichendt was head of worldwide operations at Cisco before he resigned in December 2000. He had also served on the board of Oxnard, Calif.-based Chromux, an optical-equipment shop, and has been a director at Walk Thru The Bible, a Christian leadership organization.

Nortel Networks also announced that its chief technology officer, Gary Kunis, who joined the company in April this year following the appointment of Daichendt, is also leaving the company.

Last week, Nortel brought its financial results completely up to date for the first time since news of the scandal emerged in March 2004. The company also said revenue would grow as much as 6% in the second quarter, while Nortel’s debt rating received a cleaner bill of health.

With the release of first-quarter results, Nortel appeared to eliminate the uncertainty that has surrounded the company since it fired Chief Executive Frank Dunn in April 2004. The vendor has spent the past year sorting out the accounting mess and restating results as far back as 2001.