Verizon introduced at the moment that CEO Hans Vestberg is being replaced, “efficient instantly,” by former PayPal CEO and longtime telecom vet Dan Schulman.
Vestberg’s new function will likely be as particular advisor by Oct. 4, 2026, “throughout which era he will likely be targeted on guaranteeing a clean transition, together with the combination with Frontier Communications,” anticipated within the first quarter of 2026, based on Verizon’s announcement. He’ll stay on the board of administrators till its subsequent annual assembly, probably taking place in Might 2026. On the identical time, Verizon named Mark Bertolini as the brand new board chairman.
Schulman has been on Verizon’s board since 2018. His most up-to-date submit was CEO of PayPal from 2014 to 2023. Beforehand, his telecom expertise included positions at AT&T, Virgin Cell and Dash Nextel.
This management change is the second main wi-fi CEO shuffle in two weeks. T-Mobile named former Chief Operating Officer Srini Gopalan its new CEO on Sept. 22, taking up from Mike Sievert. Nevertheless, Sievert remains to be CEO till Nov. 1, when Gopalan assumes the function. Sievert will proceed with T-Mobile as vice chairman and serve on its board of administrators.
It is unclear why Verizon is making this abrupt transfer now, simply after the top of the third monetary quarter of 2025 and three weeks earlier than it releases earnings for the corporate. Vestberg just isn’t quoted within the press launch saying his succession, leaving newly-named chairman Bertolini the standard activity of praising the outgoing government’s document within the announcement.
Verizon didn’t reply to a request for remark.
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Former Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg presenting at CES in 2022.
In June, I spoke with Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO of Verizon’s client group (who would appear to be the anticipated substitute for the highest function), concerning the firm’s new Gemini AI-based customer support initiative. I requested him concerning the first quarter of 2025, when the corporate lost nearly 300,000 wireless customers, and he credited the fluctuation to “the seasonality of the enterprise.”
Within the second quarter of 2025, Verizon appeared to stability these numbers, however in several areas. It misplaced 51,000 wi-fi postpaid clients, added 50,000 wi-fi pay as you go clients and 278,000 broadband clients.
In an e mail to CNET, Jason Leigh, senior analysis supervisor of 5G and mobility analysis at IDC, mentioned, “2025 is shaping as much as be an epically bizarre yr for the wi-fi business with tariffs, authorities cuts, yo-yoing labor market, and common financial malaise.”
Verizon can also be within the midst of buying Frontier Communications, which is anticipated to shut within the first quarter of 2026. The Federal Communications Fee approved the purchase in Might 2025, however solely after Verizon agreed to finish its variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) applications.
Schulman has a document of standing up for insurance policies not favored by the Trump administration, for instance, when PayPal in 2016 stopped a planned expansion in North Carolina after the state handed a regulation requiring authorities buildings to make loos single-sex solely. In 2020, he spoke to CNET following the killing of George Floyd by police.
Leigh speculated that Verizon’s transfer could possibly be the primary constructing blocks towards creating 6G applied sciences. “Everybody remains to be trying to find that transformative technique that’s going to understand the progressive and monetary promise of the billions invested in 5G,” he mentioned, including, “earlier than the crowbar goes into the pockets to begin funding 6G deployments.”
