NEW YORK (AP) - Sprint's new owner is replacing its longtime CEO with a Bolivian billionaire and entrepreneur after dropping its bid for rival wireless carrier T-Mobile US.
Marcelo Claure, the CEO of Miami-based cellphone distributor Brightstar, will replace Dan Hesse on Monday, Sprint Corp. said Wednesday.
Claure, 43, had been CEO of Brightstar Corp., which is part of Softbank Corp. of Japan. Softbank bought 70 percent of Sprint last year.
Sprint shares plunged in midday trading as its chairman and incoming CEO talked about adopting aggressive tactics to compete with AT&T and Verizon, likely including price cuts.
The Wall Street Journal said Tuesday that Sprint decided not to pursue the merger of the No. 3 and No. 4 U.S. carriers. The paper cited unnamed people familiar with the matter. The merger would have faced tough opposition from U.S. regulators who want to preserve competition among wireless carriers, and Wall Street analysts saw little chance of the deal being consummated.
In a statement Wednesday, the CEO of Softbank and chairman of Sprint said the company's focus had shifted away from acquisitions, though he didn't address the Sprint deal specifically.
"While we continue to believe industry consolidation will enhance competitiveness and benefit customers, our focus moving forward will be on making Sprint the most successful carrier," Masayoshi Son said.
Part of Son's desire to buy T-Mobile probably lay in his desire to bring T-Mobile CEO John Legere into his team. The foul-mouthed, jeans-wearing Legere has upended long-standing industry practices and brought customers streaming back to T-Mobile, though he has no profits to show for his efforts.