Whoa, T-Mobile CEO Philip Humm has resigned from the company, effective immediately. Detailed internal memos from Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann and T-Mobile USA interim CEO Jim Alling follow below.

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Full Memo:

Team,

I want you to hear the news directly from me: Philipp will be on leave with immediate effect. You might ask yourself, why I’ve taken this decision? Well, here is some background: In April, Philipp informed me that he intended to end his contract at the end of September.

During the merger process, we had agreed on such an option, just in case the merger did not materialize. Philipp told me back then that he wants to pursue a career outside of Deutsche Telekom and to reunite with his family, who have stayed in Europe. I decided back then to start the search for a successor. This search is progressing well. I have spoken to a number of promising candidates.

The reason Philipp has vacated his position with such short notice is because of his new employer: Philipp informed me a few days ago that he will be joining a competitor of Deutsche Telekom.

I have asked Jim Alling to lead the company until a final decision on a successor has been made. Jim is a respected senior leader who has my complete trust and confidence and that of the entire Deutsche Telekom Board of Management. Change of leadership has implications for both employees and the entire company, particularly when it comes to the period of transition. With this in mind, I would like to appeal to all of you to support Jim. I personally wish him the best of success.

I want to thank Philipp for his nearly two years with T-Mobile USA. His contribution to cost efficiencies and the development of the Challenger Strategy has given the company some important initiatives. With a new leader at the helm, our challenge will be to develop these initiatives into measurable success in the market.

I will be back in Seattle in mid-July to discuss next steps with the Management Team, including further business development.

In closing, I want to thank each and every one of you for your excellent work—particularly over the past few months. The successful upgrading of our network, building up our B2B business, re-launching the brand and the many other initiatives that we have started will bear fruit and will make us even more competitive.

Thank you and all the best,
René

René Obermann
CEO of Deutsche Telekom

Memo from interim CEO Jim Ailing: 

As you just learned, Philipp Humm has decided to leave the business. On behalf of the senior leadership team I want to thank Philipp for his many contributions to T-Mobile USA.

As your interim CEO, I give you my commitment to continue our Challenger strategy and to lead this organization to positive growth. While we may be in a high-tech industry, I firmly believe T-Mobile is a people-based business. I have the utmost confidence in everyone at T-Mobile to not only deliver for our customers, but to support each other as we continue to build momentum around our strategy.

To recap a few top-of-mind highlights where we will continue to focus:

• Network modernization:  We are making fast progress on our $4 billion 4G network evolution plan, including network modernization and deployment of long term evolution (LTE) service in 2013.  In fact just this week you probably read the widespread news coverage about our agreement with Verizon, which once approved by regulators will improve our spectrum position in 15 of the top 25 markets.
• Building the brand.  Our ‘No More Mr. Nice Girl’ advertising campaign evokes our Challenger spirit in the marketplace.  We’re seeing traction with our new expression – customers are taking another look at T-Mobile.
• Driving revenue in all our channels with additional focus on B2B and MVNO opportunities.

In closing, I want to thank you for everything you’ve already done to help achieve our progress and also thank you in advance for everything you will do to bring our Challenger strategy to life this year and beyond.

Best Regards,

Jim Ailing