Incoming Adelphia Communications Corp. CEO Bill Schleyer testified Wednesday
in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan that he'd like to see Adelphia board
members who were appointed by the MSO's disgraced founder, John Rigas, replaced
with new directors.
Schleyer echoed the sentiment of Yale Law School dean Anthony Kronman, who
was appointed to the board in August.
If Schleyer and Kronman get their way, Rigas-appointed directors Erkie
Kailbourne (Adelphia's interim chairman and CEO), Dennis Coyle and Leslie Gelber
would be replaced.
Schleyer spent much of his time on the witness stand defending a contract
with Adelphia that would pay him and his former AT&T Broadband colleague,
Ron Cooper, $40 million combined over three years.
Adelphia's board first offered Schleyer a contract worth 75 percent of what
WorldCom Inc. offered CEO Michael Capellas to pull the company out of
bankruptcy.
While WorldCom is worth many billions of dollars more than Adelphia, Schleyer
said he thought the offer was insulting since it will take a lot longer to
revive Adelphia than WorldCom.
Adelphia later offered Schleyer 85 percent of Capellas' contract, while
Cooper may get 56 percent.
