Gateway's revolving door--more top-level shakeups

Joe Burke, who had been responsible for Gateway's global expansion, will replace John Todd as chief financial officer. Bart Brown, the person most recently responsible for Gateway's beyond-the-box strategy, replaces Cliff Holtz as senior vice president of the company's consumer operation. Dave Russell becomes the senior vice president for supply-chain management.

Chief executive Ted Waitt unexpectedly replaced Jeffrey Weitzen as chief executive on Monday. Just a year ago, Weitzen had assumed the helm from Waitt, who stayed on as chairman.

But a near collapse of consumer PC sales buffeted Gateway (gtw) during the fourth quarter, for which the company missed expectations that had already been lowered. The company subsequently announced cost-cutting measures, which included the elimination of 3,000 jobs.

Waitt was fairly direct explaining Weitzen's departure Tuesday as he outlined a broad strategy for turning around the company that he founded.

"The first question people probably ask is, 'Why did this happen?,'" he said. "Things are what they are. Jeff decided to retire. And I love Gateway."

Gateway (gtw)Sue Parks remains as senior vice president overseeing Gateway's business operations, and Mike Hammond stays as head of the company's global operations. Also staying on are William Elliot as general counsel, James Pollard as chief information officer and John Renfro overseeing human resources.

Any remaining officer positions have been eliminated as part of the reorganization, with those executives leaving the company, Gateway said in a news release.