[1] While he was called "the most successful businessman in modern Canadian history" by Time magazine and named Canada's CEO of the Year by a Bay Street panel in the fall of 2000,[2] by the ignominious end of his career it became clear that his mismanagement destroyed the company.
Nortel, once one of the most highly regarded Canadian companies in history, fell into severe financial difficulties under his tenure and filed for bankruptcy shortly after Mr. Roth was forced out.
"[6] Forbes magazine, on December 13, 2000, referred to Roth as having "engineered some 16 acquisitions while putting the pedal to the metal internally to transform Nortel from a simple telecom equipment provider into a global brand name identified with the Internet.
Mr. Roth warned that 'the country (Canada) risked becoming a second-rank economic power unless it changed its wealth-crimping tax policies and supported high-tech winners (like Nortel)".
Roth urged the government of Canada to provide "better tax treatment of stock options", saying, "Policies and business strategies that worked well in the industrial era are a recipe for stagnation and decline in the new economy.