Robert Dotson, the CEO of T-Mobile USA, is stepping down a year from now after serving with the company for 15 years, the company announced today.
His resignation will not come as a surprise to some, as the fourth largest carrier has struggled to add subscribers in recent quarters and has failed to come up with a strong identity in the competitive wireless space. T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) has also had its own financial problems recently, making the U.S. unit’s results even more disappointing since it used to be the crown jewel of the German telecom giant.
While Dotson expects to stay on board until May 2010, Deutsche Telekom has already named his replacement. Philipp Humm, who is currently responsible for sales and service in Europe as chief regional officer, will become CEO in February.
Dotson joined what was then called Western Wireless in 1996 before it went public and became VoiceStream. Deutsche Telekom bought the company and renamed it T-Mobile USA. In the early days, it was a fast-paced start-up, and as VP of marketing, Dotson relied on his consumer marketing experience from companies like Pepsi to come up with popular ad campaigns focused around actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. Dotson was appointed CEO in March 2003.
Dotson said in a release: “It has long been my intent to step away from the business at this stage in my life in order to devote more time to family and to take on entirely new and unique challenges. That change can only be made possible if a suitable successor is in place. Over the next year, it will be my relentless focus and responsibility to work closely with Philipp to ensure marketplace success, and to enable a seamless leadership transition.”
In the past year, T-Mobile has lost other executives, including T-Mobile USA’s CMO Denny Marie, who stepped down in April. The company has also gone through a number of restructurings, which have led to the scaling back of some programs. Its primary focus is now on the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Android platform, and is relying on its own team of software engineers to differentiate the platform.
In a release, René Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, said, “I sincerely regret Robert’s decision to leave, however I absolutely respect his decision, and am most grateful that he has offered to stay on for another year in order to work with Philipp to ensure continuity in running the business.”
Humm, 50, will join the team in July. Humm has since served as CEO of T-Mobile Deutschland from 2005 until 2008, and previously worked for a number of U.S.-based companies including McKinsey & Company, Procter & Gamble and Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN).