Cable veteran and former Continental Cablevision CEO Amos Hostetter has
resigned from AT&T Corp.’s board of directors, citing personal reasons.
In a statement, AT&T said Hostetter will be replaced by William F.
Aldinger III, chairman and CEO of Household International, a subsidiary of HSBC
Holdings plc, one of the world's largest financial-services companies.
Hostetter joined AT&T’s board in 1999 after the telephone giant purchased
MediaOne Group Inc. through its AT&T Broadband subsidiary. MediaOne had
earlier purchased Continental for $10.8 billion in cash, stock and assumed
debt.
After AT&T acquired MediaOne, Hostetter was AT&T’s largest individual
shareholder with about 53 million shares of its common stock. But after AT&T
sold its cable holdings to Comcast Corp. in November, several observers expected
Hostetter to resign.
According to Securities and Exchange Commission documents, Hostetter is still
AT&T’s largest individual shareholder, with 10.7 million shares of its
common stock after AT&T initiated a 1-for-5 reverse stock split in
November.
"I'd like to thank Amos for his contributions to the board since joining it
in 1999. His insight and expertise were invaluable in guiding us though a major
restructuring of the company," AT&T chairman David Dorman said in a prepared
statement.
