Deutsche Telekom shareholders today vented their fury at chief executive Mr Ron Sommer over a plunge in the group's share price, brushing aside management expressions of regret for the slide.
Shares in the group, which ranks among Europe's three largest telecoms operators, have fallen by 75 per cent since last March and have lost more than half their value in the last year - underperforming the Euro stoxx telecoms index.
The stock continued to fall today, trading three per cent lower at euro 25.46 leading decliners on Germany's blue chip DAX index.
There was also a hint of renewed resentment towards management following calls from some investors and media earlier this year for Mr Sommer to quit.
Around 9,500 shareholders faced Mr Sommer in the giant Cologne Arena, looking for management to present a game plan to pick up the value of their investment.
Many say Mr Sommer's management team has made a series of mistakes in the last year which have led to the share's underperformance compared to its peers.
They say Telekom's acquisition of US cellphone operator VoiceStream, currently valued at just over $26 billion, is too expensive, and that the company paid too much for UMTS next-generation mobile phone licences.