By Bloomberg News

March 24, 2000, 3:00 p.m. PT

NEW YORK—Deltathree.com’s shares fell 39 percent after the provider of Internet telephone services said chief executive and president Amos Sela is resigning to join RSL Communications.

Deltathree.com’s shares fell $11.50 to $18 on the Nasdaq. The shares had almost doubled since they were first sold to the public in November at $15.

RSL, controlled by cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, owns a 68 percent stake in New York-based Deltathree.com. Sela, 56, will become vice president of special projects at RSL, a voice and data-communications company. Noam Bardin, 28, a co-founder of Deltathree.com, will become president and interim CEO April 1.

"The board has become very comfortable with Bardin driving the strategy over the past several months," said Mark Hirschhorn, Deltathree.com’s chief financial officer. "The board thought it’d be better to have him lead."

Deltathree.com’s board formed a search committee to oversee the transition and search for a new chief executive, which will take several months, the company said.

At that time, Bardin, who also is chief technology officer, will retain an executive role and possibly become chief operating officer, Hirschhorn said.

Bardin co-founded the company with Elie Wurtman and Jacob Davidson in 1996. Deltathree.com, which had 1.7 million subscribers at the end of the fourth quarter, generates its revenue by routing calls on its network and from banner advertising. The company offers features such as fax, voice mail and email that can be checked by phone or computer.

The company said it has research and development offices in Jerusalem, where it employs 80 of its 125 workers. Most of the remaining employees are in New York.