Chronology related to our new CEO:
As best I can put it together.
I'm impressed. I hope he's still on a roll. I'm betting he is.
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Mr. Hoffman holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Auburn University.
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1983-1987
He was a Captain in the U.S. Army in Europe working in military intelligence from 1983 to 1987.
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1987-1995
From 1987 to 1995 he worked in numerous positions in sales, marketing and management with Sprint's Business Services Unit.
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1995-1997
Mr. Hoffman was employed by Intermedia as division vice president-Florida from 1995 to 1997, where he grew the company's fiber-optic network and customer base and oversaw the creation of the largest competitive local phone and data service provider in Florida.
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1997
Mr. Hoffman built and served as the president and chief operating officer of Logix Communications Enterprises (LCE). LCE, a holding company for Logix Communications, that provides wholesale "carriers-carrier" DWDM transport, business-to-business ISP services, integrated voice and data services, and regulated ILEC service through Dobson Telephone, a 60 year-old regulated Rural Exchange Company (RLEC). Mr. Hoffman grew Logix to $120MM in sales, 800 people, and 65,000 access lines, making it one of the largest CLECs in the country.
In connection with the employment of William J. Hoffman, Jr., in 1997, Dobson Communications agreed to provide compensation in the form of a combination of some or all of the following: salary, bonus, stock options and/or other benefits. The terms of Mr. Hoffman's employment are a $10,000 payment upon acceptance of employment, an initial annual salary of $110,000, an annual bonus ranging from 30% to 50% of his annual salary, country club initiation fees and dues, a five-year option to purchase 664 shares of Dobson Communications' Class B Common Stock at an exercise price equal to its fair market value at date of grant, with 60% of the options vesting ratably over five years and 40% vesting over five years based on the achievement of annual performance objectives. Mr. Hoffman is also entitled to a severance payment equal to one year's salary in the event of termination of employment of Mr. Hoffman without cause. The options to purchase shares of Class B Common Stock held by Mr. Hoffman become fully vested upon a change of control of Dobson Communications. Effective August 1, 1998, and pursuant to the Logix Stock Option Plan, the Company granted to Mr. Hoffman options to purchase an aggregate of 1,042,500 shares of Logix common stock over a ten year term at an exercise price of $2.00 per share, which options vest at the rate of 20% on each anniversary date of the grant.
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January 2000
William J Hoffman
Chairman of the Board & Co-founder
Mr. Hoffman co-founded VectorLink in January 2000.
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March 15, 2000
This Severance Agreement ("Agreement") is entered into between William J. Hoffman, Jr. ("Hoffman") and Logix Communications Enterprises, Inc. ("Logix").
Whereas, the employment relationship between Hoffman and Logix has been severed and the parties wish to document the terms of the agreement between them concerning severance benefits.
Now, therefore, it is agreed:
1. DATE OF SEPARATION. The date of separation of employment and the effective date of this Agreement is March 15, 2000.
2. SEVERANCE PAYMENTS. Subject to the terms of this Agreement and applicable tax and withholding requirements, Hoffman shall
(i) be paid his base salary, plus 34% of his base salary in lieu of all incentive compensation, each month for a period ending on March 14, 2003 (the Payment Period"). (My note: Very strange ... he was entitled to one year's salary for termination without cause, how did he get three years' salary? Oh well, no matter lol)
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March 2000 to October 2002
Mr. Hoffman served at the pleasure of numerous large private equity firms who employed his skills to repair and rebuild substantial telephony and global wireless businesses in their portfolios. His successes include Advanced Telcom Group, Nuvox, Krone, and MobileSys, Inc.
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October 15, 2002 (to 2004)
Publication: PR Newswire
Publication Date: 15-OCT-02
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Company: MobileSys Inc.
Article Excerpt
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- MobileSys, the leading enterprise wireless messaging service provider, today announced the appointment of William (Chip) J. Hoffman Jr. as president and chief executive officer. He will also join the company's board of directors. Hoffman will be responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day management of the company. He will join a team that includes David Coelho, MobileSys founder, who will oversee the development and deployment of MobileSys' family of products.
"As more enterprises are recognizing the value of wireless technologies, we want to focus our talents on key priorities and challenges,"...
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June 30, 2003
ACQUISITIONS, MERGERS & AGREEMENTS
MobileSys & mBlox Merge
MobileSys Inc., a US provider of Short Message Services (SMS) to corporations and mBlox Ltd, Europe's leading SMS services provider will announce their merger and the successful closing of $8 million (US) in venture capital and private equity to finance planned expansion. Norwest Venture Partners is the lead investor.
This merger creates the market's largest global SMS transmission network. The company will retain the mBlox name and maintain operations in London, Sunnyvale and Hong Kong. Short Message Services (SMS) is a huge and fast-growing media channel in Europe, where content services and marketing now provide a substantial portion of the 10 billion messages sent every month. The US has recently introduced the service, with message volumes already exceeding 1 billion per month.
Customers include Cisco Systems Inc., Citibank, Electronic Data Systems Corp (EDS), Ericsson Mobile Communications, Ford Motor Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp., Johnson & Johnson Inc., Motorola Inc., and Siebel Systems Inc
mBlox and Norwest Venture Partners spokespeople are available for interview. To schedule a conversation or to view the full press release today, please contact me.
Source: News Release from the company
MobileInfo Comments and Advisory: This is a good rationalization of vendors with synergistic interests
Mr. Hoffman was President and CEO for mBlox, Inc., the world's largest wireless transaction processing network, from 2002 to 2004. (My note: Until June 2003 he was CEO of MobileSys which then merged with mBlox) There he focused on reorganizing, restructuring, and then rapidly growing the business to over 180 countries. His responsibilities included capital structure, Board, organization, strategy, and execution of the firm's business plan. He was instrumental in developing partnerships with more than 500 wireless operators around the globe including Vodafone®, T-Mobile®, Verizon® and Cingular®, and achieving a $75 million annual run-rate in 18 months time for the world's largest provider of messaging infrastructure.
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2004 (until hiring on with Neomedia)
Mr. Hoffman was the CEO and co-founder of Uniqua Technologies, Inc, where he led the company to establish the first business-to-Business mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the United States using GSM technology. Uniqua also provides enterprise mobile commerce and data solutions to businesses. He co-founded Vectorlink Communications Corporation, a subsidiary of Uniqua, which provides licensed and unlicensed broadband and telephony services to government, business, and consumers in Texas.
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?????? (Can't get a date on this)
William "Chip" Hoffman, a telecommunications industry veteran, is the new ATG president and chief operating officer, replacing Robert Wartsler, who retired.
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