Management Shake-Up At Helio, But Sky Dayton To Stick Around
By Tricia Duryee - Tue 12 Feb 2008 04:41 PM PST
Helio said this afternoon that it is eliminating some executives as their roles and responsibilities are consolidated into other departments. The departures are part of a larger realignment of functions that a spokesman considered a “traditional exercise as we grow.”
Helio PR would not confirm the report in ValleyWag that CFO Todd Tappin and VPs Michael Zemetra, Terry Boyle and Kieran Hannon were leaving the company—however, we have it on good authority that the report is correct. “We internally announced a realignment of some of the internal departments to drive efficiencies by combining functions inside others,” spokesman Rick Heineman said. “There will be some executives that are leaving Helio, but we aren’t getting into the details on who they are.”
As for the detail about former CEO and current Chairman Sky Dayton being close to leaving the company, Helio said that is not true. ”Sky absolutely will continue to be a part of Helio. He retains his office here and is engaged daily. His role now as chairman keeps him engaged at an accelerated level. He’s the head of the board of directors, so he’s overseeing everything.”
Some changes were to be expected at the company, as Earthlink (NSDQ: ELNK) transitioned out as an active investor and SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) plays a more prominent role. According to Helio’s Web site, Tappin was previously the founding CFO of Overture Services and Hannon, the EVP of marketing, was previously the VP of marketing for RadioShack. Boyle and Zemetra were not included on the management list.
No further layoffs were part of the restructuring, Helio said.
Rafat adds: Wonder how long the five company-owned Helio stores will keep functioning? The stores are in Santa Monica, San Diego, Palo Alto, New York and Denver, and from anecdotal evidence, have been failures. The company has since moved to emphasizing company-owned kiosks within malls and other shopping areas, and those seem to be working better.
Posted in: Companies, Operators, MVNO, Helio, Industry Moves
