SoftBank appears to be taking tighter control of the still-ailing US operator.

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

August 6, 2014

3 Min Read
Hesse Out, Claure In: Sprint Is Son's House Now!

With Dan Hesse out as CEO at Sprint and the installation of BrightStar's Marcelo Claure as the new boss, it is clear that parent company SoftBank is taking a firmer grip of the reins at the still-struggling US operator.

News of Dan Hesse's possible departure broke Tuesday night. A press release Wednesday morning made it official. (See Sprint Drops Bid for T-Mobile – Reports .)

Hesse joined Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) in December 2007 to try and help fix the mess left by the Sprint Nextel merger. He is now exiting ostensibly because Sprint can't make a potential $32 billion merger with T-Mobile US Inc. happen. (See Sprint Appoints Claure As New CEO and Sprint Nextel's New Broom.)

Brightstar Corp. 's Claure got a seat on the Sprint board early this year after SoftBank Mobile Corp. 's $1.2 billion investment in the wireless distributor. He will take over as Sprint CEO on August 11. (See Brightstar Boss Gets a Seat on Sprint Board and Softbank Invests $1.26B in Brightstar.)

Those are the facts as they stand right now. Even parsing the language of the official press release on the appointment, however, gives little hints at more going on.

Visit Light Reading's mobile channel for key developments from the wireless networking sector, including 4G, 5G, small cells, security, carrier WiFi, packet core and more.

"Marcelo has been a great addition to Sprint's Board and his entrepreneurial background, business savvy, industry experience and strong relationship with Masayoshi Son make Marcelo an excellent choice to lead Sprint going forward," Dan Hesse is quoted as saying in his exit statement.

We also know that SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son has previously vowed to be much more hands on in running Sprint and not repeat the mistakes of the past by leaving an American management to their own devices. Claure appears to be someone that Son can work with at the helm of Sprint. (See SoftBank's Son Keeps Sprint on Short Leash.)

After all, in the matter of acquisitions, the SoftBank CEO was easily as vocal as Hesse about a potential merger. For instance, he had this to say back in March:

  • In order to fight back, we cannot be status quo. We have to change the situation, so it's not really four players becoming three. It's two players dominating the market, and we have to fight back.

Yet it was obvious that getting the regulatory approval for any merger was going to be tough. Some, meanwhile, had already started to wonder if hitching T-Mobile's fast-moving wagon to Sprint's donkey would help or harm the brand. (See Does T-Mobile Need Sprint to Scale? and Tough Road Ahead for Sprint/T-Mobile?)

In the short term, Sprint says that "Claure's first priority will be to continue the build out of Sprint's network by leveraging its strong spectrum holdings as well as ensuring that Sprint always maintains truly competitive offers in the marketplace." (See Sprint Promises 180Mbit/s 'Peaks' in 2015.)

"Expect capital spending to rise," say the analysts at Moffett Nathanson in a research note Wednesday. "They will also have to cut their service prices, which are simply are too high relative to competitors."

Doing this will make Sprint financials look "ugly indeed," the note warns.

The replacement of the CEO is also likely to restart chatter about Sprint moving headquarters to be closer to its Japanese parent, although Sprint specifically says in the release that Claure will be moving to lead from the current HQ in Overland Park, Kansas. (See Sprint: Heading to California?.)

As we have seen, however, things can change quite quickly in Son's house. In September 2013, SoftBank put Hesse's contract renewal on a five-year cycle, rather than reviewing it every year, as was done previously. He had been due to stay on as Sprint CEO through 2018. (See Sprint CEO Hesse to Stay On Through 2018.)

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like