Solomon Trujillo

Solomon "Sol" Trujillo (born 1952) is an American-born businessman, currently residing in Melbourne, Australia. He replaced Ziggy Switkowski as the Chief Executive Officer of Telstra on July 1, 2005.

Related Topics:
1952 - American - Melbourne - Australia - Ziggy Switkowski - Chief Executive Officer - Telstra - July 1 - 2005

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Trujillo was born in America to a family of Mexican heritage, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree and an MBA from the University of Wyoming.

Related Topics:
Mexican - Bachelor of Science - MBA - University of Wyoming

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Trujillo began his business career as a business forecaster for Mountain Bell in 1975, and the company later evolved into US West. He worked as President, chairman and CEO of US West from 1995 to 2000, before resigning when the company merged with Qwest. He served the chairman and CEO of Graviton Inc. until he became the CEO of Orange SA in 2003, having previously served on the company board.

Related Topics:
US West - US West - Qwest - Orange SA

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He was chosen as Telstra's next CEO after the company's six-month global search ended with him being appointed on June 9, 2005. The Howard government in Australia will look to sell their remaining 51.8% share in Telstra in late 2005 after their majority in both Houses of the Parliament of Australia begins on July 1, and Trujillo will be responsible for running the (currently) publicly owned telecommunications company.

Related Topics:
June 9 - 2005 - Howard government - Parliament of Australia

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Trujillo's personal wealth is estimated at over US$50 million, and he will earn up to AUS$10 million annually at Telstra.

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Trujillo is currently in the midst of fighting an increasingly bitter and personal fight with the government over regulations for Telstra once the government sells its 51% stake. The government wants Telstra to operate under the same - or possibly even more stringent - guidelines, including the universal service obligations (USO), as before.

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Services to the bush are to be maintained, Telstra must consult with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on every price change and Telstra operations will be split into retail and wholesale divisions. Trujillo has vigorously fought all of these requirements. Initially he stated that maintained services to the bush would be unsustainable, however, telecommunications minister Helen Coonan has shown no signs of backing down from the USO for Telstra. Ouspoken Outback National Party Senator Barnaby Joyce, whose vote gives the coalition its critical majority, was vocal in stating he would vote against the sale if services to the bush were not maintained. In order to placate him, the government set up a $3 billion fund for rural services, and he obliged by stating that he would now vote for the sale.

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On Friday 2nd September 2005, one of Trujillo's executives caused an uproar by stating that he "wouldn't recommend Telstra shares to his mother". It was revealed in the following week that the government received a secret briefing from Telstra a month ago, stating that a profit downgrade of up to 10% was forecast and that Telstra had been drawing on reserves to pay dividends. Prime Minister John Howard was under increasing pressure to explain why he did not make this information public, however, he has stated it would have been illegal for him to do so. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is currently investigating.

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This news prompted a plunge in Telstra's share price, wiping $1.5 billion off the market capitalisation. The shares dropped from the $5.25 mark they were at when Trujillo arrived, to around $4.30. They then dropped further once Telstra went ex-dividend in late September, 2005. The government's public sale is currently in doubt, as they were expecting $32 billion from the sale, but now would garner around $24 billion. It has been mooted that the shares might be moved to the government's future fund.

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Meanwhile, Trujillo and his so-called 'three amigos' (American executives he brought to Telstra) show no signs of backing down from the government in this increasingly bitter and divisive fight.

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