Rogers Communications CEO Joe Natale speaks to shareholders during the Rogers annual general meeting in Toronto on April 20, 2018.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Rogers Communications Inc.’s chief financial officer, Tony Staffieri, accidentally phoned the telecom’s CEO, Joe Natale, while he was discussing plans to unseat Mr. Natale and other executives with the support of company chair Edward Rogers, according to two sources.
Mr. Staffieri was speaking with former long-time Rogers chief legal officer David Miller about the plan when he inadvertently dialled Mr. Natale’s number, according to two people familiar with the fallout from the matter. The Globe is not identifying the individuals because they are not authorized to speak publicly about it.
After learning of the plan, which included removing nine other senior executives, Mr. Natale informed an independent director, triggering an emergency weekend board meeting. The majority of the board and Rogers family backed Mr. Natale and his management team. Mr. Staffieri left the company three days later.
Neither Mr. Staffieri nor Mr. Miller could immediately be reached for comment. Mr. Natale declined to comment.
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The attempted management shakeup triggered a boardroom rift that split the family, with Mr. Rogers on one side, and his mother, Loretta Rogers, and sisters Martha Rogers and deputy chair Melinda Rogers-Hixon on the other. Rogers is currently awaiting regulatory approval for its $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc.
The company said on Thursday that the board has voted to remove Edward Rogers as chair and replace him with John MacDonald.
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Alexandra Posadzki