Bell Atlantic this week announced that it has accelerated its plan to name CEO Ivan Seidenberg as company chairman.
The Bell Atlantic board voted earlier this week to appoint Seidenberg as its chairman, effective Dec. 31. The company had originally planned for Seidenberg's appointment to go into effect on the first anniversary of the Bell Atlantic/NYNEX merger in mid-August, company spokesman Bob Varettoni said.
Current chairman Raymond W. Smith plans to leave Bell Atlantic by year-end to take over as chairman of New York-based Rothschild North America.
Plans to name Smith's successor as CEO and chairman began following the company's announcement to merge with NYNEX in April 1996. Last May, when Smith announced plans to retire from the company, Bell Atlantic acted on his recommendation to accelerate Seidenberg's succession as CEO, Bell Atlantic said. Seidenberg assumed the CEO role on June 1.
The accelerated succession plan shows how smoothly the integration process has gone between Bell Atlantic and NYNEX, Varettoni said.
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