Only 4 Senior-Level Qwest Execs to Keep Jobs After CenturyLink Merger

Only four senior-level Qwest Communications International Inc. executives will keep their jobs once the CenturyLink Inc. takeover closes.

Stephanie Comfort, Steven Davis, Girish Varma and Chris Ancell all have positions secured. Long-timers Roland Thornton, Qwests head of wholesale markets; Teresa Taylor, Qwest COO; Joe Euteneuer, Qwest CFO; Dan Yost, Qwests head of mass markets; Bob Tregemba, head of network operations; and Rich Baer, Qwests general counsel, all will lose their jobs. Theyll stay with Qwest through the merger, though, helping choose employees for each division and giving input on the combined organizations overall structure.

Comfort, Qwests head of corporate strategy and development, will continue in that role. Davis, Qwests public policy and government relations expert, will oversee all state and federal regulatory activities at CenturyLink. IT services exec Varma will retain that same position. And Ancell, CenturyLink already announced, will stay on as president of the business-markets group.

Qwest CEO Ed Mueller will have a seat on the CenturyLink board. Three other Qwest execs also will be on the board but they havent been announced. Lower-ranking execs also have yet to be named.

CenturyLink laid out its full Tier 1 leadership in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CenturyLink and Qwest last month announced their $10.6 billion merger  $22.4 billion with Qwests debt included that will create the third-largest local phone provider in the United States. The combined service provider expects to report $30 billion in annual revenue. CenturyLink says it has started the approval process with the FCC and Justice Department, and filed for approval in 23 states where CenturyLink and Qwest operate. The companies expect to finalize the merger in early 2011.