Qwest Names CEO

Telecom

TSC Staff

08/13/07 - 07:27 AM EDT

Qwest (Q Quote - Cramer on Q - Stock Picks) named former Williams-Sonoma (WSM Quote - Cramer on WSM - Stock Picks) chief William Mueller CEO.

Mueller replaces Dick Notebaert, who surprised Wall Street earlier this summer by saying he was ready to retire.

Mueller ran Williams-Sonoma, a retailer of high-end housewares, from 2003 to 2006, leaving when Chairman Howard Lester returned to take the reins. Previously Mueller was CEO at Ameritech, a Chicago-based Baby Bell that in 2002 was purchased by SBC, the predecessor to AT&T (T Quote - Cramer on T - Stock Picks).

Notebaert has revived Qwest from a debt-burdened decline in the early years of this decade, but the company has been largely left out of the U.S. wireless boom dominated by AT&T and Verizon (VZ Quote - Cramer on VZ - Stock Picks), leaving analysts to scratch their heads as to where Qwest is headed.

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