McCaw to resign as chairman of Clearwire

Wireless industry pioneer Craig McCaw is set to resign his current position as chairman of the board of directors at Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) effective today, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing from the carrier.
Clearwire noted that McCaw informed the company of his decision on Dec. 29 of his intentions. Looking to discourage anyone reading too much into the announcement, Clearwire noted in the filing that the move was “not due to any disagreements with the company on any matters relating to the company’s operations, policies, or practices.”
McCaw has served as chairman at Clearwire since the company’s reorganization in 2008 that saw the firms spectrum consolidated through a deal with Sprint Nextel Corp. and financial investments from Comcast Corp. ($1.05 billion), Intel Corp. ($1 billion), Time Warner Cable ($550 million), Google Inc. ($500 million) and Bright House Networks ($100 million). McCaw’s Eagle River Investments L.L.C. was an original investor in the old Clearwire with McCaw serving as chairman of that entity for five years prior to its reorganization. Clearwire noted that Eagle River has indicated it intends to nominate former Clearwire CEO Benjamin Wolff to replace McCaw on Clearwire’s board.
Clearwire recently closed on a debt offering that generated more than $1.1 billion for the carrier to help fund continued growth of its mobile broadband network that currently reaches more than 110 million potential customers. The carrier has said it was looking to expand coverage to more than 250 million pops over the coming years. Analysts have noted that the carrier would need as much as $2 billion to fund its 2011 growth plans, which could be met through plans by Clearwire to sell a portion of its vast spectrum holdings.
Clearwire’s stock was trading down more than 1.5% in early Friday trading following the news at $5.12 per share.