Nasty exchange: Sprint, T-Mobile CEOs go at it on Twitter

NEW YORK--Nearly a month ago, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure wished John Legere, his counterpart at T-Mobile, a "Happy Birthday" via Twitter. Legere tweeted back a thank you.

So much for the pleasantries.

The rival executives at the nation's No. 3 and No. 4 wireless carriers, respectively, are slugging away in a social media war of words that has turned nasty.

Claure apparently hit the boiling point after Legere criticized Sprint's new "All-in plan" with the following tweet:

"I give credit to @sprint for swinging the bat when they do but #allin is a swing and a miss, guys!!

Claure fired back with a few tweets of his own, the contents of which included: "I am so tired of your Uncarrier bullshit when you are worse than the other two carriers together. Your cheap misleading lease imitation is a joke…. You say one thing but behave completely different. It's all a fake show. So its really #Tmobilelikehell."

Legere counterpunched with his own series of tweets:

"You mad bro?"

"When it comes to self-destructing, Marcelo is #Allin."

"Think I hit a nerve at the end of a rough week? Maybe end of the Q is a hard day over there. @T-Mobile numbers speak for themselves. #comingsoon."

"Isn't it cute that Marcelo's been following me on twitter since joining? Now he's starting to sound like me to get attention-it's working!"

There was widespread speculation last year that T-Mobile and Sprint--which is owned by Softbank in Japan--might pair up to compete against wireless behemoths AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Such merger plans were scrapped in August because the regulatory hurdles were apparently too steep.

That was shortly before Claure assumed the top job at Sprint, taking over from former CEO Dan Hesse.

Claure's social media outburst is seemingly out of character, but such behavior is not atypical for Legere. He has frequently called attention to himself and T-Mobile, while bashing rivals and using salty language in public.

Just last month, for example, Legere blasted journalists on Twitter before pulling down the controversial tweets.

Both companies are aggressively marketing low-cost plans.

Asked by USA TODAY if T-Mobile or Legere would comment on this latest exchange with Claure, the company responded: "His tweets are our comments. They stand on their own."

Sprint did respond to USA TODAY on a similar query: "Sprint's new All-in plan is all about straightforward simplicity, transparency and giving customers what they want in a way that is easy to understand. Our competitors only claim to do that. Marcelo was just calling that out."

Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow @edbaig on Twitter