News
Existing Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg, who served as CEO since 2018, will be vacating the role with immediate effect.
By: Harry Baldock, Total Telecom
This week, Verizon has announced the appointment of Daniel Schulman, former CEO of PayPal, as company CEO.
The move sees existing CEO Hans Vestberg leave the role immediately, but remain in the company as a special advisor until October 4, 2026, helping to oversee the integration of Frontier Communications.
Schulman is no stranger to the company, having served on the company’s Board for seven years.
“I believe in Verizon and its future, and I am honored to be chosen to serve as CEO,” said Schulman in a company press release. “Verizon is at a critical juncture. We have a clear opportunity to redefine our trajectory, by growing our market share across all segments of the market, while delivering meaningful growth in our key financial metrics. We are going to maximize our value propositions, reduce our cost to serve, and optimize our capital allocation to delight our customers, and deliver sustainable long-term growth for our shareholders.”
In a message to employees on his first day, Schulman, who had previously worked for both AT&T and Virgin Mobile USA, said the appointment felt “like coming home” after 25 years in the telecoms industry.
‘An important moment’
“Today, we stand at an important moment—we are going to move quickly and boldly to win in both mobility and broadband. I fully intend for us to regain our leadership by growing share across all segments of the market, by consistently delighting our customers. At the same time, we must drive financial results that exceed current market expectations. We must also deliver for our shareholders,” he said.
“The biggest competitive advantage we have is our team. Every day, we have to focus on what truly matters to our customers. We want them to trust us, love us and stay with us,” he added.
Th final sentence is particularly poignant; earlier this year, Verizon revealed it had lost around 300,000 postpaid customers to its rivals in Q1 2025, a fact it largely attributes to the price hikes it implemented in January.
Verizon is not the only US telecoms giant undergoing a major leadership change before the end of the year. Last month, T-Mobile announced that its Chief Operating Officer, Srini Gopalan, will take over the company reins from current CEO Mike Sievert in November.
