Bon calls time on tenure

Bon leaves France Telecom after spending 50 billion euros on expansion

LONDON, England -- Michel Bon, who quit as chief executive of debt-laden France Telecom, expressed concern in early 2000 that the company's stock was behaving like that of an Internet start-up.

He likened Internet shares to "assignats" -- banknotes, which were issued in the French Revolution and were worth just 1 percent of their face value by 1796, about 7 years after their debut.

Two-and-a-half years ago, France Telecom shares were worth 219 euros valuing the company at about 224 billion euros. It stocks plunged to an all-time low of 8.60 euros on June 26, 2002, down almost 95 percent.

Bon, 59, spent almost 50 billion euros on expanding the company at the peak of the telecom boom, paying over inflated prices as he attempted to build a global phone giant to rival cross-border rival Deutsche Telekom.

But Bon could not have dreamt his job would have been on the line as stock prices tumbled amid concerns that telecom companies had spent close to $100 billion on buying high-speed wireless licenses.

France Telecom bought UK mobile phone company Orange from Vodafone, Europe's biggest wireless operator, for $37 billion in stock and cash. It merged its own mobile phone companies with Orange to create Europe's third-largest wireless operator.

For all that met Bon, none would have a harsh word for the man regarded as a gentle man with a disarming smile. But the knives were out for his ouster on Thursday night as many investors became disgruntled with his inability to make a dent in the company's 70 billion euros debt pile.

French Finance Minister Francis Mer said on Friday that Bon was not the only person to blame for France Telecom's debt and the government would take its share of responsibility.

Bon, who had been voted manager of the year on three occasions, was ousted as the chief executive of Europe's biggest retailer Carrefour in 1992 after disagreements arose over strategy, despite boosting profits fourfold.

Bon was chosen by President Jacques Chirac in 1995 to steer Europe's second-largest phone company to a successful stock market listing in 1997, trading at 27.75 euros a share. More than 4 million French people bought shares.

Unlike many other chief executives, Bon -- a graduate of the elite Ecole Natioinale d'Administration -- was not a flashy man. He has always been proud his salary -- 279,000 euros -- the lowest of any French blue-chip chief.

A teetotaller and practising Catholic with four children, Bon is said to have received 3 million euros when he left Carrefour.