Editing Nortel (section)

=== Optical boom and bust  ===
[[File:Nortel technician in lab Belleville 2001.jpg|thumb|Technician working in a Nortel lab in [[Belleville, Ontario|Belleville]], 2001]]
In 1998, with the acquisition of [[Bay Networks]], the company's name was changed to Nortel Networks to emphasize its ability to provide complete solutions for multiprotocol, multiservice, global networking over the [[Internet]] and other communications networks. As a consequence of the stock transaction used to purchase Bay Networks, BCE ceased to be the majority shareholder of Nortel.{{citation needed|date = May 2012}}

In 1999, Nortel outsourced several of its manufacturing operations to North American contractors.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.eetimes.com/nortel-to-sell-several-manufacturing-plants-to-cems/|title=Nortel to sell several manufacturing plants to CEMs|date=August 4, 1999|work=EE Times|access-date=May 19, 2020|archive-date=August 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805091446/https://www.eetimes.com/nortel-to-sell-several-manufacturing-plants-to-cems/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2000, BCE [[spin-out#U.S. SEC definition|spun out]] Nortel, distributing its holdings of Nortel to its shareholders. Bell-Northern Research was gradually absorbed into Nortel, as it first acquired a majority share in BNR, and eventually acquired the entire company.{{citation needed|date = May 2012}}

In the late 1990s, stock market speculators, hoping that Nortel would reap increasingly lucrative profits from the sale of [[fibre optic network]] gear, began pushing up the company's share price to unheard-of levels despite the company's repeated failure to turn a profit.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nortel-s-icarus-like-stock-1.846948|title=Nortel's Icarus-like stock|date=January 14, 2009|work=CBC News|access-date=April 28, 2019|archive-date=November 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107051026/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nortel-s-icarus-like-stock-1.846948|url-status=live}}</ref> Under the leadership of [[chief executive officer]] [[John Roth (businessman)|John Roth]], sales of optical equipment had been robust in the late 1990s, but the market was soon saturated. When the speculative telecom [[Dot-com bubble|bubble of the late 1990s]] reached its pinnacle late in the year 2000, Nortel was to become one of the major casualties.{{citation needed|date = May 2012}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dabrowski |first=Wojtek |date=Jan 14, 2009 |title=Key dates in the history of Nortel |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE50D3N1/ |website=Reuters |access-date=December 11, 2023 |archive-date=December 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211073353/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE50D3N1/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Nortel's revenues would be dented by a saturated market and the failure of [[WorldCom]], which was a major customer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.itworldcanada.com/article/how-worldcom-took-nortel-down-with-it/36930|title=How WorldCom took Nortel down with it|date=June 23, 2009|access-date=May 20, 2020|archive-date=August 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805080707/https://www.itworldcanada.com/article/how-worldcom-took-nortel-down-with-it/36930|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/18/business/worldcoms-audacious-failure-and-its-toll-on-an-industry.html|title=WorldCom's Audacious Failure and Its Toll on an Industry|date=January 18, 2005|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=May 20, 2020|archive-date=May 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513142824/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/18/business/worldcoms-audacious-failure-and-its-toll-on-an-industry.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nortel-extends-multi-billion-dollar-contract-with-worldcom-1.251553|title=Nortel extends multi-billion dollar contract with WorldCom|date=September 20, 2001|work=CBC News|access-date=May 20, 2020|archive-date=September 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902050148/https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nortel-extends-multi-billion-dollar-contract-with-worldcom-1.251553|url-status=live}}</ref>

At its height, Nortel accounted for more than a third of the total valuation of all the companies listed on the [[Toronto Stock Exchange]] (TSX), employing 94,500 worldwide, with 25,900 in Canada alone.<ref name = "Third_of_TSX" /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Wahl |first=Andrew |title=The good, the bad and the ugly: Nortel Networks |url=http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/canadianbusiness/1037/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-nortel-networks |date=March 24, 2009 |journal=Canadian Business |access-date=July 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330143912/http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/canadianbusiness/1037/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-nortel-networks |archive-date=March 30, 2009 }}</ref> Nortel's market capitalization fell from [[Canadian dollar|C$]]398 billion in September 2000 to less than C$5 billion in August 2002, as Nortel's stock price plunged from C$124 to C$0.47. When Nortel's [[stock market crash|stock crashed]], it took with it a wide swath of Canadian investors and [[pension fund]]s and left 60,000 Nortel employees unemployed. Roth was criticized after it was revealed that he cashed in his own [[stock option]]s for a personal gain of C$135 million in 2000 alone.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20050112/RNORTBOARD12 |title=New board 'is an improvement by a mile' |work=Globe and Advisor |date=January 12, 2005 |access-date=March 12, 2011 |archive-date=May 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527044259/https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20050112/RNORTBOARD12 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Roth retired in 2001. His planned successor, [[chief operating officer]] Clarence Chandran, already on sick leave due to complications following his 1997 stabbing in Singapore,<ref name="CBC-Chandran-medicalleave">{{cite news
 | work = CBC News
 | publisher = [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]
 | title = Nortel COO takes medical leave
 | date = March 13, 2001
 | url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nortel-coo-takes-medical-leave-1.267331
 | access-date = December 15, 2011
 | archive-date = March 2, 2012
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120302180030/http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2001/03/13/ott_nortelleave010313.html
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> decided to quit, however.<ref name="LATimes-Chandran-quit">{{cite news
 | last = Karleff
 | first = Ian
 | title = Search for New CEO Launched by Nortel
 | newspaper = Los Angeles Times
 | date = May 21, 2001
 | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-may-12-fi-62550-story.html
 | access-date = December 15, 2011
 | archive-date = June 18, 2012
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120618082616/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/12/business/fi-62550
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> [[Chief financial officer]] [[Frank Dunn]] was eventually chosen as Roth's permanent replacement.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 October 2001 |title=Hires And Fires: Oct. 1–5, 2001 |url=https://www.forbes.com/2001/10/06/1006hires.html?sh=b1b5163399a5 |access-date=31 January 2024 |website=Forbes |archive-date=January 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131170733/https://www.forbes.com/2001/10/06/1006hires.html?sh=b1b5163399a5 |url-status=live }}</ref>