CFO bails on Bay Networks

Bay Networks (BAY) today said its chief financial officer plans to resign--the latest management change since the company installed a new CEO five weeks ago.

William J. Ruehle, who has been with Bay and its premerger predecessor SynOptics for the past nine years, will resign once a successor has been named.

"I decided that after nearly ten years it was time to transition to something new. With the advent of outstanding new leadership at Bay, this seemed like a particularly opportune time to make a move," Ruehle said in a statement.

David House, a former top-level executive at Intel, was recently appointed chairman, president, and chief executive at Bay. Within the week following his arrival, the company named Dave Shrigley as vice president of marketing, sales, and service. Shrigley was also a former executive at Intel. (Intel is an investor in CNET: The Computer Network).

Bay Networks was formed following the merger of SynOptics Communications and Wellfleet Communications in 1994. Ruehle had been with SynOptics since 1987.

"The company is indebted to Bill Ruehle for his role in building SynOptics from a $2 million company through its merger with Wellfleet to today's $2 billion Bay Networks." House said in a statement. "At my request, Bill has agreed to stay until a new [CFO] is named."

Bay, which develops and markets routers, hubs, and switching equipment for networking computers together, has been hit with increasingly tough competition, a lag in getting new products to market, and an ability to successfully integrate the sales force since its 1994 merger.

House said in an earlier interview that he has experience growing a company and his vision for the company will evolve over time.