Vonage CEO Resigns, Company Restructures

Michael Snyder, CEO of Vonage Holdings Corp., has resigned.

The company made the announcement early Thursday morning at its investor conference call.

Snyder’s resignation was effective on April 11. It came as part of a “broader restructuring,” said Jeffrey Citron, Vonage founder.

Citron will serve as interim CEO while Vonage searches for Snyder’s replacement. It was not immediately clear how long Citron will hold the position; he became “chief strategist” when Vonage went public in 2006 because he had, in 2003, been found guilty of day-trading fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was then barred from serving as a controlling executive and agreed to pay more than $22 million in fines.

Citron refused to comment during the conference call on his ability to serve as CEO during Vonage's search for a replacement.

As part of its restructuring, Vonage is slashing its marketing spending (“results continue to be disappointing,” Citron said) by $110 million. The company also is cutting jobs and consolidating operations, particularly in North America.

The announcements followed a series of  blows to Vonage -- the VoIP provider recently lost a patent infringement suit and has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages, even as it fails to turn a profit. Vonage is tackling workarounds to the infringed patents, Citron said, but he would not provide details.

Vonage plans to release its quarterly earnings next month, Citron said.

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