Level 3 promotes Jeff Storey to CEO, replacing company founder James Crowe

Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT) has appointed Jeff Storey as its new president and CEO, taking over from company founder James Crowe, who announced he would step down last month.

Jeff Storey, Level 3

Storey (Image source: Level 3)

In addition to his new role, Storey has been nominated to be elected as a member of the company's board during its upcoming stockholders meeting that will be held on May 23.

While the board did not indicate whether the company would look at internal or external candidates, Storey is a logical candidate to succeed Crowe. One of the crowning achievements Story has led in his five-year tenure with the company as COO was its multibillion-dollar deal to acquire Global Crossing in 2011.

Storey, who began his career at Southwestern Bell Telephone (now AT&T (NYSE: T)), has had a long history of finding new telecom industry opportunities. During his tenure at Cox Communications, he was one of the founding members of Cox Business Services, one of the dominant players in the Ethernet services segment, for example.

"With 30 years of industry experience and his intimate knowledge of Level 3's customers, employees and operating environment, Jeff is the right executive to lead Level 3 into the future," Walter Scott, Jr., chairman of Level 3's Board of Directors, in a release announcing Storey's promotion.

Crowe, the company said in a release, will not be seeking reelection to the company's board at the annual meeting.

At the time Crowe said he would leave the company this year it was revealed that he had been talking about a CEO succession plan, adding that he "felt that this was the right time to leave the company as it has gained a more consistent financial footing."

The service provider won't release its Q1 2013 earnings until April 25, but in Q4 2012 it reported that revenue was up $1.59 billion year-over-year with strong gains in both its Core Network Services and Enterprise CNS divisions.

For more:
- see the release

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