BellSouth officials leaving in wake of AT&T buyout

<p>A BellSouth official who was given a position at AT&T after the company bought BellSouth has decided to retire.</p><p>Rod Odom had been tapped to run AT&T Southeast, which would have overseen BellSouth's former territories in nine southeastern states. That job now goes to another BellSouth veteran, David Scobey.</p><p>Odom joins two other BellSouth veterans who had been expected to stay but have decided to leave.</p><p>Isaiah Harris, who was selected to run AT&T's advertising and publishing unit in the east, recently said he will step down. AT&T spokesman Jeff Battcher said Harris, who worked at Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp. for a decade, is pursuing other interests.</p><p>Marc Gary, who was BellSouth's general counsel, also has decided to seek other work. San Antonio-based AT&T initially said Gary would be in charge of legal matters for AT&T in the southeast.</p><p>The departures of Odom, Harris and Gary add to the list of top BellSouth leaders who will not be staying with AT&T Inc. Those who are leaving or have left include former BellSouth Chairman and CEO Duane Ackerman, former BellSouth President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Feidler and others.</p><p>AT&T closed on its purchase of BellSouth Dec. 29 in a deal valued at $85.5 billion. AT&T also took full ownership of Atlanta-based Cingular Wireless, which had been a joint venture of the companies. Cingular is being rebranded for AT&T, as is BellSouth.</p><p>While a few top leaders have taken new jobs with AT&T, many have decided to take severance packages.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9d5c)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/1/108222