September 01, 2008, 7:48 PM — Alcatel-Lucent will name Philippe Camus, a former aerospace CEO, as its new chairman perhaps as soon as Tuesday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday afternoon in its online edition, citing "people familiar with the matter." The company also will name former BT executive Ben Verwaayen as the CEO, the Journal said, quoting an anonymous source.
Camus was previously co-CEO at EADS, the European aerospace company. He is currently a managing director at Evercore Partners, a U.S. consultancy, and is also co-CEO of Lagardere, a French media company. According to the Journal, he will continue in those roles after he becomes Alcatel chairman and will be based in New York.
Verwaayen was CEO of BT in the U.K. until June and he will be based in Paris in his role as Alcatel-Lucent CEO, the newspaper said.
Alcatel-Lucent, which has struggled financially, has been searching for new top executives since announcing in July that Chairman Serge Tchuruk and CEO Patricia Russo would leave their jobs.
The 2-year-old merger of Alcatel and Lucent has not gone smoothly. Tchuruk and Russo reportedly have not gotten along during that time and the cultures of the two companies have not been an easy fit.
Tchuruk will leave his post on Oct. 1 and Russo will depart as soon as her successor is named, Alcatel-Lucent had previously said.
