Back to press releasesNewark, N.J. April 3, 2003 – IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT, IDT.C), a multinational carrier, technology and telephone company, is pleased to announce that Jack Kemp, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, has been appointed to IDT’s Board of Directors. For the past two years, Mr. Kemp has served on the Board of Directors of IDT Telecom, a subsidiary of IDT. With Mr. Kemp’s appointment, the IDT Board has nine outside directors and seven inside directors.
“With the appointment of Jack Kemp to our Corporate Board, we add a strong outside voice with experience and insight. And at the same time we reaffirm our commitment to good corporate governance through a highly qualified independent board of directors,” said Jim Courter, IDT’s CEO. “It was a privilege working closely with Jack Kemp during our years together in Congress and during his tenure on IDT Telecom’s Board. His wealth of governmental experience, knowledge of economics and ability to make reasoned business recommendations will be invaluable to IDT as it continues to grow.”
Jack Kemp is currently co-director of Empower America, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy and advocacy organization he co-founded in 1993 with William Bennett and Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. Mr. Kemp served four years as Secretary for Housing and Urban Development under President George H. Bush and authored the Enterprise Zones legislation to encourage entrepreneurship and job creation in urban America. In 1995, Mr. Kemp served as Chairman of the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform and in August 1996 received the Republican Party’s nomination for Vice President.
“Jack Kemp is a visionary whose ideas have helped build American businesses and spark economic growth,” said Howard Jonas, IDT’s Founder and Chairman. “He’s made significant and tangible contributions to our nation and is guided by principals that I share: expanding personal freedoms, spreading democracy and encouraging entrepreneurship. He will be a welcome voice on IDT’s Board.”
Prior to serving in President Bush’s cabinet, Jack Kemp was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 1989, representing the Buffalo area and Western New York. Jack is a native of Los Angeles, where he attended LA public schools. He graduated from Occidental College. Jack Kemp played for 13 years as a professional football quarterback. Kemp was captain of the San Diego Chargers from 1960-1962 and captain of the Buffalo Bills, the team he quarterbacked to the American Football League Championships in 1964 and 1965.
Jack Kemp joins a very distinguished Board. IDT’s outside Directors include former CEO of University Optical Products, Inc, J. Warren Blaker, former U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Rudy Boschwitz, President Emeritus of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Saul Fenster, Chairman of Stone Tower Capital LLC, Michael Levitt, President and CEO of Crystallex Inc, Marc J. Oppenheimer, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral William Owens, Chairman of Canary Wharf Group plc, Paul Reichmann, and former Governor of Massachusetts, William Weld.
IDT Corporation, through its IDT Telecom subsidiary, is a facilities-based, multinational carrier that provides a broad range of telecommunications services to its retail and wholesale customers worldwide. IDT Telecom, by means of its own national telecommunications backbone and fiber optic network infrastructure, provides its customers with integrated and competitively priced international and domestic long distance telephony and prepaid calling cards. IDT and Liberty Media Corporation own 95% and 5 % of IDT Telecom, respectively. IDT acquired the assets of Winstar Communications in December 2001.
IDT Corporation common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols IDT and IDT.C. As of March 13, 2003, there were about 54.4 million shares of Class B common stock (IDT) outstanding, and about 25.1 million shares of common stock (IDT.C) Of these, approximately 4.0 million shares of Class B common stock and approximately 5.4 million shares of common stock were held by IDT Corporation.
In this press release, all statements that are not purely about historical facts, including, but not limited to, those in which we use the words “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate, “target” and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgment of what may happen in the future, actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied by these statements due to numerous important factors, including, but not limited to, those described in our most recent report on SEC Form 10-K (under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports on SEC Forms 10-Q and 8-K. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following: potential declines in prices for our products and services; our ability to maintain and grow our retail telecommunications services, particularly our prepaid calling card business; availability of termination capacity; financial stability of our customers; our ability to maintain carrier agreements with foreign carriers; effectiveness of our marketing and distribution efforts; increased competition, particularly from regional bell operating companies; our ability to manage our growth; competitiveness of our Winstar subsidiary; impact of government regulation; our ability to obtain telecommunications products or services required for our products and services; and general economic conditions, particularly in the telecommunications markets. We are under no obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update the forward-looking statements in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
