Who’s George Riedel and why should we be excited? Well, he’s Nortel chief strategy officer, who has overseen the company’s assets sales after CEO Mike Zafirovski abandoned ship in the wake of the disappointing and puzzling decision to surrender rather than fight on.

Now that the sale of Nortel’s 6,000+ patent portfolio has been sold to a consortium for a staggering $4.5-billion, the tally from all the asset sales now stands at $7-billion to $7.5-billion. Good work, George!

Keep in mind that Nortel went into bankruptcy protection with $4.5-billion in debt so being able to raise $7-billion from holding a telecom garage sales is a job well done.

And while Riedel will soon be looking for work, at least he stuck around to see things through, which couldn’t have been an easy assignment.

The big question now is how much of the asset sale booty will go to ex-employees who aren’t debt holders? With Nortel’s bankruptcy protection extended until December, there is a lot of work to be done before the company’s affairs are finally in order.

To be honest, there’s really not much left to restructure given the only major assets left are Nortel’s stake in the Nortel-LG joint venture, and a 3,000+ patent portfolio.

John Doolittle becomes Nortel’s CFO, in addition to his duties leading Nortel’s Corporate Group. The CRO position will not be filled.

“Pavi has been an excellent leader for the organization under very challenging circumstances,”  Nortel chairman David Richardson said in a statement. “He has played a key role in the Company meeting its restructuring objectives including maximizing the value of Nortel’s assets through the sale of the businesses in a very difficult economic environment, with a focus on ensuring the best outcome for Nortel’s businesses and its creditors, which include employees and bondholders. On behalf of the Board of Directors and other stakeholders, I would like to thank and acknowledge Pavi for his outstanding leadership and contribution throughout this critical time.”

Nortel said Friday it had completed the sale of its optical networking and carrier ethernet assets to Ciena for about $774 million.

Nortel also reiterated that it does not expect its common shareholders or its NNL preferred shareholders to receive any value from the bankruptcy protection process. It expects these shares will be canceled as a result.

Given the distance between Mike Z. and I, I had to laugh after logging in to LinkedIn this morning to see that one of the people they suggested I invite into my network is….Mike Zafirovski. I suspect it’s not his real profile but it was one a good morning chuckle!

According to the CBC, Roth filed a claim in a U.S. bankruptcy court asking for  $1 billion U.S. indemnification from Nortel of his personal assets.

While Nortel has tumbled into bankruptcy protection amid an accounting scandal, fierce competition and a series of strategic blunders, Roth has been enjoying a bucolic retirement at an estate just north of Toronto. When he left Nortel in 2001, Roth walked away with more than $135-million.

And while the spotlight has shone with great intensity on his successors as CEO – the embattled Frank Dunn, ex-U.S. Admiral Bill Owens and the ever-confident Mike Zafirovski, Roth has managed to stay in the background and avoided any scrutiny in terms of his role in Nortel’s sad demise.

For more on Roth, here’s a good article from the Ottawa Citizen looking at his career and the story behind his retirement.

More: Here’s the proof of claim filing Roth made with a Delaware court.

During the reign at Nortel, Hackey was probably best known for a road rage incident at a parking lot following a basketball game.

Alas, they weren’t allowed to make it happen as Nortel’s board decided to stick with CEO Bill Owens…and the rest, as they say, is history.

This sad, but fascinating tale, is recounted in the National Post.

Alas, they weren’t allowed to make it happen as Nortel’s board decided to stick with CEO Bill Owens…and the rest, as they say, is history.

This sad, but fascinating tale, is recounted in the National Post.

Alas, they weren’t allowed to make it happen as Nortel’s board decided to stick with CEO Bill Owens…and the rest, as they say, is history.

This sad, but fascinating tale, is recounted in the National Post.

Mike Zafirovski: Originally, Mike Z. was entitled to a “special lifetime annual pension benefit” of $500,000 that would kick in upon his termination as CEO, or after five years. In 2007, Zafirovski voluntarily requested the package be reduced to $355,000.

Bill Owens: Although he was Nortel’s CEO for less than two years, Owens walked away with a ultra-sweet severance and pension package. His “pension benefit” consisted of an initial payment of $703,913 in June 2006, and then equal monthly payments of $99,073 through to November 2010.

Frank Dunn: Dunn, who was fired for cause in 2004, received $2.4-million upon his termination, representing the commuted value of his pension benefits. With 27.92 years of service, Dunn would have been eligible for an annual pension of $400,000 to $600,000.

John Roth: Roth, who left in 2001, received an annual pension of more than $800,000 based on 33 years of service and annual compensation of $1.86-million.