Quigley frontrunner for Alcatel-Lucent job

Former Alcatel executive in frame for CEO role as vendor prepares to announce new management team

Alcatel’s former chief operating officer, Mike Quigley, has emerged as a frontrunner to replace Pat Russo as Alcatel-Lucent’s chief executive.

Quigley vacated his role three years ago after Alcatel and Lucent merged. Since then the French and US telecoms giants have failed to gel and the combined company has posted six consecutive quarters of losses.

According to reports in both the French and UK press, UK-born Quigley is now widely fancied to be offered the top job following Russo’s surprise resignation in July. It is thought Alcatel-Lucent will unveil its full new management line-up within the next two weeks.

According a Financial Times article, the vendor is keen for its new top dog to be operational from day one and, having spent 30 years at Alcatel, Quigley knows the market and company intimately.

Investors are also keen on Quigley, as news of his potential appointment sparked a substantial rise in the vendor’s depressed share price.

Other names linked to the reshuffle include former BT chief executive and ex-Lucent executive Ben Verwaayen. French Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche has also named media boss Philippe Camus as a possible replacement for Serge Tchuruk, who announced his resignation as non-executive chairman on the same day as Russo.