Back to press releasesHoward Jonas to Step Down as CEO and remain as
Chairman Samuel Jonas Named Successor CEO
IDT Corporation (NYSE:IDT), a global provider of telecommunications and
payment services, today announced that Howard Jonas, the Company’s
founder, Chairman and CEO, will step down as Chief Executive Officer
upon the expiration of his current employment agreement on December 31,
2013. IDT’s Board of Directors has named IDT’s Chief Operating Officer,
Samuel ‘Shmuel’ Jonas, to be CEO. Howard Jonas will continue to remain
actively involved in the Company in his capacity as Chairman.
Howard Jonas, who was IDT’s first CEO after founding the Company in
1990, has most recently served in that capacity since October 2008.
During this tenure, Mr. Jonas led the effort that returned IDT’s core
telecom business to profitability. IDT has been steadily profitable in
recent years and pays a regular quarterly dividend.
As part of the turn-around effort carried out during his tenure as CEO,
Mr. Jonas fundamentally re-shaped IDT. He sold or shut down many
non-core businesses and spun-off several others to IDT stockholders. The
spun-off companies, CTM Media (CTMMA, CTMMB), Genie Energy (NYSE: GNE,
GNEPRA) and Straight Path Communications Inc. (NYSE MKT: STRP), all
continue to do very well. The combined market caps of IDT and these
three public companies increased by approximately $900 million during
Mr. Jonas’ tenure as Chairman and CEO of IDT.
“I am deeply grateful to our employees and loyal stockholders for
persevering with me through some very difficult times to rebuild IDT.
I’ve been honored and privileged to work with many wonderful colleagues,
and they are largely responsible for the substantial progress we have
made,” said Mr. Jonas.
“We have restored IDT to profitability and built a solid foundation for
future growth. Looking ahead, we are blessed with abundant opportunities
and capable management to pursue them. In my capacity as Chairman, I am
looking forward to continuing to collaborate with the Board and with
Shmuel and his management team and to provide them with strategic
guidance and direction,” he concluded.
Howard Jonas’ successor as CEO of IDT, Shmuel Jonas, has served as IDT’s
COO since June 2010. In that capacity, he has been actively involved in
the management of the Company’s day-to-day operations. Shmuel Jonas
joined the Company in June 2008 and has served as the Company’s Vice
President of Operations where he helped to plan and implement the
Company’s turn-around. His cost cutting initiatives and conservative
approach to investment in growth opportunities have been key drivers to
the Company’s improved bottom line performance and the renewed strength
of its balance sheet.
“I am very pleased with IDT’s performance to date and our prospects
going forward,” said Shmuel Jonas. “I am excited and nervous, but am
very much looking forward to taking on this new and challenging role.
Strategically, we will continue investing appropriately in the long term
growth of our core telecom and payments businesses. We will also
continue helping Zedge and Fabrix unlock their huge potential value.
Consistent with this approach, we intend to generate current and
long-term value for our stockholders through improved profitability,
quarterly dividends, spin-offs and other monetization events. I am
taking on this new and challenging role under the Board’s and my
father’s continued guidance and am supported by an outstanding
management team.”
About IDT Corporation:
IDT
Corporation (NYSE:IDT), through its IDT Telecom division, provides
retail telecommunications and payment services to help immigrants and
the under-banked to conveniently and inexpensively communicate and share
resources around the world. IDT Telecom’s wholesale business is a
leading global carrier of international long distance voice calls. IDT
also holds majority interests in two early-stage technology companies
focused on high growth industries: Zedge (www.zedge.net),
a mobile content discovery and acquisition platform, includes one of the
most popular Apps for Android and iOS; Fabrix Systems (www.fabrixsystems.com),
a cloud based scale out storage and computing platform, provides a
scalable solution optimized for media and big data processing and
delivery. For more information, visit www.idt.net.
Investor Relations
IDT Corporation
Bill Ulrey, 973-438-3838
invest@idt.net
