Neil Smit is a stud

I started Savage Partners two years ago. Prior to starting my own executive search firm, I was the Director of Worldwide Executive Search at Time Warner in NYC. I handled all the VP and above executive search work at AOL, Time Inc., and Time Warner Cable. It was a great experience at a time when Time Warner was going through a lot of turmoil. I learned a tremendous amount from this experience, in particular how large media companies operate and make decisions.

I did a lot of work with AOL at the time and, specifically, with Neil Smit. Neil was running the worldwide call center business for AOL, and had previously run some content businesses for them. He had a CPG background prior to AOL. I loved working with Neil at AOL, and I was always really impressed with his ability to make decisions quickly, and always follow up on everything. He was also a former Navy Seal, so this says a lot about his discipline and mental toughness.

In any regard, Neil went to become the CEO of Charter Communications two years ago. The stock was at .90 cents and the company in very serious risk of going out of business. I think everyone thought Neil was crazy. Sure enough, the stock is now at $4.15, representing a 4.6Xreturn in two years. I know he has also made tremendous progress paying down their debt, and refinancing the debt, as well as build their VOIP subscriber base.

I remember when I was having my exit interview at Time Warner with Pat Fili-Krushel, the EVP of Administration. I told her that Neil Smit was the best executive at AOL. Sure enough, he shortly got recruited away.

When they made the announcement that Neil had joined Charter as CEO, I was tempted to buy 10,000 shares based on my knowledge of Neil. Of course, I looked at the balance sheet and the company and wimped out. I'd be a lot wealthier had I gone with my instinct on Neil. In any regard, congratulations to Neil and Charter stockholders! Neil is world-class, and kudos to the Charter Board for recognizing this and making the hire.