THE NORTEL CURSE

Frank Dunn isn’t the first former CEO to end up disgraced.

KARIN MARLEY

PAUL STERN

REIGN: 1989-1993

RISE: A brash American careerist, Stern pushed the company beyond Canada’s borders, forging deals from Turkey to FALL: He forgot about those at home. After his aggressive style, neglect of R&D and massive layoffs led to a revolt by clients and employees alike, Stern “retired,” leaving the company balance sheet in chaos.

Brazil in a largely successful attempt to turn it into a global telecom leader.

JEAN MONTY

REIGN: 1993-1997

RISE: The former president of Bell Canada put the company back on track, taking it from $1 billion in losses to $1.2 billion in profits. As a reward he was named chief of parent BCE, where he garnered further praise by astutely timing the sale of BCE’s Nortel stake at near stock peak.

FALL: A convergence enthusiast, he used that cash to build an ill-fated multimedia empire. Most notoriously, he plowed $6.4 billion into Teleglobe; two years later, BCE sold it for US$155 million.

JOHN ROTH

REIGN: 1997-2001

RISE: An engineer who rose through the ranks, Roth pointed Nortel toward the Internet, catching the tech wave that saw the stock surge from $18 to $124.50 in three years. For this, he became widely touted as Canada’s top strategist.

FALL: Alas, the money vanished as quickly as it came. Nortel lost $300 billion in value during the dot-com crash. Firms it bought for US$20 billion were sold for just US$167 million. Worse, investors couldn’t abide the fact that Roth cashed in $135 million worth of options before the stock dropped. He was quietly pushed out.