WOM Chile CEO Chris Bannister has confirmed his departure from the struggling telco.
Bannister, who only rejoined WOM six months ago for his second stint as CEO at the company, revealed his exit on LinkedIn late last week.
The timing of his exit comes days after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US.
"Shareholders did not deliver their commitment in funds," said Bannister. "Inevitably, I took the best/only decision to solve the issue of its corporate finance structure C11. Not an easy choice but one that will allow WOM its employees and customers to continue to grow whilst the Board deals with the problem that happened under their watch."
Bannister has been replaced by Martin Vaca Narvaja, a veteran of the telecoms industry with close to 30 years of industry experience.
He previously worked for Argentinian telco Telecom Personal, and spent eight years at global distribution company Brightstar (now Likewize).
Bannister rejoined WOM back in October, after spending more than three-and-a-half years as CEO of WOM Chile between January 2015 and August 2018.
WOM last week filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware after the company fell short on a plan to refinance $348 million in debt due in November.
In its filing, WOM, which stands for "Word of Mouth," listed more than $1 billion in debt.
WOM has blamed its financial problems on its delayed 5G rollout, while credit rating companies downgraded WOM's debt early last year, including 2024 and 2028 bonds totaling $649m.
The telco said that it has also had issues constructing telecom towers on time.
