Knapp takes the exit at NTL

BARCLAY KNAPP, one of the great survivors of the technology boom, is finally stepping down from NTL, the troubled cable television and telecoms operator he founded.

The man who made and lost billions for investors in NTL, and who oversaw the company's collapse into Chapter 11 insolvency before its re-emergence again this year, is leaving with a pay-off of $2.1m (£1.3m) - equivalent to three years' salary.

Knapp, 46, bought NTL a decade ago then transformed it into one of Britain's leading cable companies with promises that the convergence of pay TV services and the internet would in time deliver more household subscribers than BSkyB.

He said: 'I am a builder of businesses, an entrepreneur. It is time for me to look for the next NTL.'

Knapp is handing over to Simon Duffy, 53, brought in as chief operating officer earlier this year. Duffy has had something of a peripatetic career in dotcom land after spending most of the 1990s as finance chief of music giant EMI.

He joined NTL after less than a year as finance chief at French mobile phones group Orange. Before that he had headed Dutch dotcom World Online and a Danish rival, End2end.

Today, NTL, which wiped out $11bn of borrowings in a debt-for-equity swap to get out of Chapter 11, reported losses for the first half of the year of $508m against $876m last time. It has 2.75m UK subscribers, up 2% on a year ago.

Knapp's arch-rival, BSkyB chief executive Tony Ball, said of his departure: 'I think he's a star and a terrific guy. I was sorry to hear it.'