Barry Maloney is to resign as chief executive of mobile operator Esat Digifone to pursue other interests, it was announced yesterday evening.
He has agreed with Digifone's owner British Telecom to maintain involvement as the non-executive chairman of the board, and he will stay on as CEO until a successor is found.
The decision comes as Digifone is increasingly integrated with BT Wireless, the mobile arm of British Telecom, which the company has pencilled in for a partial flotation later this year to help cut its £30bn sterling debt mountain.
Maloney simply said he had been in the job for five years and that it was now time for change.
It is understood he has made a number of investments in technology and telecom start-ups, and is clearly not short of money after pocketing an estimated £50m from the sale of his 2% Digifone stake to BT.
