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| Solomon Dennis "Sol" Trujillo | |
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| Born | November 17 1951 Cheyenne, Wyoming |
| Employer | Telstra |
| Occupation | Chief Executive Officer |
| Predecessor | Ziggy Switkowski |
Solomon Dennis "Sol" Trujillo (born November 17, 1951 in Cheyenne, Wyoming) is an American businessman.[1] He is the Chief Executive Officer of Telstra, Australia's major telecommunications company.
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Career
Trujillo holds a Bachelor of Business degree and an MBA from the University of Wyoming. He began his business career as a business forecaster for Mountain Bell in 1975. He worked as President, chairman and CEO of US West Communications, Inc. from 1995 to 2000. He served as chairman and CEO of Graviton before its closure. His next position was as CEO of Orange SA in 2003,[2] a company on which he had been a board member since 2001[3]. He held that position until Orange was acquired by France Telecom. He was appointed Telstra's Chief Executive Officer on 1 July 2005.[4]
CEO of Telstra
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- On 2 September 2005, one of Trujillo's executives caused an uproar by stating that he "wouldn't recommend Telstra shares to his mother" [5].
- Trujillo has scrapped plans for Telstra to build Fiber to the node infrastructure, after abortive negotiations with Australian corporate regulators, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The major points of contention related to access to the infrastructure for Telstra's retail competitors (Telstra now operates infrastructure built by Telecom, who as the incumbent public telco, had a monopoly until the mid-1990s). Former Prime Minister John Howard had said that he would not be "blackmailed" by Mr Trujillo on the issue.
Services to the "bush" (remote and rural areas) are to be maintained, Telstra must consult with the ACCC on every price change and Telstra operations will be split into retail and wholesale divisions. Trujillo has vigorously fought all of these requirements. [6] Initially he stated that maintained services to the bush would be unsustainable, however, former telecommunications minister Helen Coonan showed no signs of backing down from the Universal Service Obligation for Telstra. It is unknown whether the new communications minister will back down. Outspoken Queensland National Party Senator Barnaby Joyce was vocal in stating he would vote against the sale if services to the bush were not maintained.
Controversies
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- He categorized the regions that US West serves into gold, silver or bronze and took up to 100 days to service and repair phone connections in the bronze areas only because they were legally required to after 100 days. [7] Many people were in need of emergency services and there were not able to dial 911. [8]
- He resigned as CEO of U S WEST, Inc. just before the company became the subject of a federal criminal probe for overstating nearly a billion dollars in profits.[9] He was not charged by the justice department and has denied any knowledge of accounting irregularities.
- Mr Trujillo is Australia's least admired chief executive, according to a business analysts survey by the respected Australian business magazine Business Review Weekly. He has presided over a multi-billion dollar drop in the value of Telstra. Famously, he stated that he was 'proud' of having contributed to the decline in its value.[10]
- Mr Trujillo has received $1.5 million bonus for delivering a transformation plan for Telstra. He has hired management consultants Bain and spent $54 million on their services to do much of the work.[11]
- A survey of the public by Reader's Digest magazine in Australia found the children's performance troupe The Wiggles were more trusted than Mr Trujillo.[12]
- In 2007 the Telstra Board lead by Mr Trujillo asked shareholders to approve a bonus package for management which would effectively give Mr Trujillo a A$20 million dollar bonus. Over 66% of shareholders voted against the bonus. Despite the opposition of shareholders Mr Trujillo said the board was "disappointed" with the result of the vote and would still issue the bonuses regardless of the wishes of shareholders.[13]
References
External links
- Telstra biography
- Orange SA biography
- Future in Review biography
- Telstra's new boss article from Dissent magazine, Aug 2005
- Sol Trujillo on the Line SBS Dateline, 20 Sep 2006
