CEO Says Sprint Did Not Gain Control of Clearwire

Though Sprint now owns what might under other circumstances be a controlling interest in Clearwire, both Sprint and Clearwire say that is not the case.

Clearwire CEO Erik Prusch addressed that issue on Clearwire's latest earnings report. "I want to be crystal clear, Sprint has not gained any additional governance rights or board seats through their agreement to purchase Eagle River shares," said Prusch.

"The strategic investor group board seats and governance rights do not transfer when shares are sold," said Prusch. That means Sprint does not gain additional board seats whenever it buys investment stakes held by other Clearwire investors, says Prusch.

It appears that some of the confusion grows from earlier decisions by Sprint and Clearwire whereby Sprint agreed not to have management control of Clearwire. Also, Sprint has in the past declined to take steps to control Clearwire or buy the company outright.

Still, many believe, despite the logic of the latest Clearwire statement and its factuality, in a de jure sense, that the de facto reality could be different.