As the saga of Tele-Communications Inc.'s quest to raise its stock price from the bowels of Purgatory continues, the cable TV giant has tapped industry veteran Leo J. Hindery Jr. to become TCI head John Malone's right-hand man.
TCI announced late Friday that Hindery will leave his post as managing general partner and CEO of Intermedia Partners to become TCI's new president. He'll report directly to Chairman Malone.
The announcement ends long-time rumors that Malone would tap a new executive to run day-to-day operations at the cable TV giant after months of dismal performance on Wall Street. The pressure has been on for Malone - who just came back on the scene after a two-year stint in the shadows - to cut costs, reorganize business units, and shake up the executive pool.
But the big question Friday was how or whether the appointment will affect the future of Brendan Clouston, who is now president of TCI Communications, and widely viewed as the number two executive at TCI. TCI said only that Clouston and the heads of the company's other business units will report to Hindery. Clouston had been reporting directly to Malone.
TCI didn't release a time frame for Hindery's arrival but said the company still is negotiating to buy Hindery's management company that runs the Intermedia properties.
San Francisco-based Intermedia Partners is the nation's ninth largest cable TV operator and partly owned by TCI. No successor to Hindery at Intermedia was announced Friday. "[Hindery] has been a valued business partner of ours for several years and is well-known and respected by managers throughout our company and the industry at-large," Malone said.
There were indications Friday that Hindery's appointment may already be ruffling executive feathers. In a strange breach of protocol, TCI's programming division - Liberty Media Corp. - put out a separate release that it billed as a "correction" to its parent's announcement.
Noting that TCI is scheduled to spin off its Liberty unit by the third quarter, Liberty stated bluntly that its president, Peter Barton, "will continue to report directly to the board of directors of TCI and its chairman, John Malone."
With a reception like that, Hindery may be dreading that first business lunch with Clouston. Dessert, anyone?
