Clearwire Board Member Wolff Resigns

Benjamin Wolff, a former CEO of Clearwire and close ally of company founder Craig McCaw, has resigned from the troubled wireless company’s board. Clearwire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLWR]]) reported the change in a filing with federal regulators on Friday, saying Wolff’s “decision to resign is not due to any disagreements with the company.”

McCaw’s investment firm, Eagle River Holdings, is expected to appoint a board member to fill Wolff’s slot. Clearwire shares were down about 1 percent in after-hours trading.

The board change is another sign of turmoil for Kirkland, WA-based Clearwire, which is losing money, carrying lots of debt, and looking for hundreds of millions of dollars to switch from its current WiMax-based network to one based on long-term evolution, or LTE technology.

Majority stockholder Sprint (NYSE: [[ticker:S]]) has been contributing to swings in Clearwire’s stock price recently with public statements that put the companies’ working relationship into further question. Sprint initially announced that it was moving ahead with a fourth-generation network plan that didn’t include Clearwire, and CEO Dan Hesse downplayed the negative effects of a possible Clearwire bankruptcy when questioned by investors.

That sent Clearwire’s stock plummeting. But earlier this week, Sprint said it was working on an agreement with Clearwire that could pave the way for Sprint to buy into a new Clearwire network. That buoyed the stock, as did Clearwire’s early release of some third-quarter financials that showed a narrowing loss. Clearwire is scheduled to release its full quarterly earnings report Nov. 2.

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.