Clearwire CEO Morrow Out, Stanton Named Interim Chief

Leadership shake-ups continue at Clearwire: the Kirkland, WA-based company said Thursday that CEO Bill Morrow and two other top officers are out.

Board chairman John Stanton, one of Washington state’s wireless pioneers, is now interim chief executive. Clearwire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLWR]]) said Morrow is stepping down for personal reasons, and also is leaving as a director of the company’s board. Board-member Dennis Hersch will lead the committee charged with hiring a new CEO.

The change comes just a few months after Clearwire founder and longtime wireless leader Craig McCaw resigned as chairman. The company operates a WiMax 4G wireless network.

Clearwire also said Thursday that it believes an agreement is “imminent” to resolve wholesale pricing disputes with Sprint (NYSE: [[ticker:S]]), which is Clearwire’s majority shareholder. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse was quoted yesterday as saying that Clearwire would be part of “every option” for Sprint’s future.

Also leaving are Clearwire’s chief commercial officer, Mike Sievert, and its chief information officer, Kevin Hart. The company’s statement said the pair were going to “pursue other opportunities.”

Erik Prusch moves from chief financial officer to a new chief operations job, handling day-to-day responsibilities. Hope Cochran will be the new CFO, moving up from treasurer.

Author: Curt Woodward

Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem. A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time.