Kate Johnson is betting nearly $1 million that the investors fleeing her company are wrong, the Wall Street Journal reported. Johnson bought 1 million shares of Lumen LUMN -9.23%decrease; red down pointing triangle Technologies stock last week as it dipped into penny-stock territory, costing the telecommunications company boss $970,000. The former Microsoft and General Electric executive said the purchase made sense as she felt investors overreacted to a complicated third-quarter report and restructuring plan. Johnson, who trained as an electrical engineer and has a Wharton M.B.A., joined the debt-laden telecom last November after four years as Microsoft’s U.S. president. Lumen valued Johnson’s 2022 compensation at $4.8 million after it hired her. The pay package included a $1 million cash signing bonus and stock awards valued at about $3 million. Lumen in 2021 sold some of its network to private-equity firm Apollo Global Management for $7.5 billion. The company has also sold networks in Europe and Latin America to sharpen its domestic focus. The company last week said it plans to restructure its debt so that big bond payments come due later. The plan included a 4% workforce cut. The balance-sheet maneuver, which will drive up interest costs, combined with a decision to spend less on home-broadband construction, got a chilly market reception.
