Executive Quits AT&T; Post Almost Before He Arrives

Ralph Martino had a short career at AT&T.; So short, in fact, that the company was still announcing his arrival the day after he quit.

Setting a standard for revolving-door employment, Martino spent two days this week as the executive in charge of AT&T;’s 1,000-member computer sales force before returning to his old employer, International Business Machines Corp.

“He started working Monday morning and he left Tuesday afternoon,” Dick Muldoon, a spokesman for American Telephone & Telegraph Co., said Friday.

“We are absolutely assured that his decision was personal and it was not because he was dissatisfied with business plans or directions,” Muldoon added.

Martino, 38, served his brief stint as national sales vice president at AT&T;’s Data Systems Group in Morristown, N.J.

AT&T; executives were still telling securities analysts about the high-level appointment as late as Wednesday, not realizing their man was gone, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

IBM said Martino is on special assignment to David M. Thomas, president of the national distribution division in Montvale, N.J. He worked previously in IBM’s applications systems division in Valhalla, N.Y., overseeing software development.

“All I know is he left and after one day he decided to return. He does not want to be interviewed,” IBM spokesman Douglas DeLay said.

AT&T;’s Muldoon added: “He was very well respected--at both companies.”