Randall Stephenson, the longtime chief executive officer of AT&T, is stepping down. Stephenson will be succeeded by AT&T Chief Operating Officer John Stankey, who will take over the role on July 1.
Stephenson has served as AT&T’s CEO for more than 13 years and oversaw the massive acquisitions of CNN parent company Time Warner (now known as WarnerMedia) and satellite TV provider DirecTV.
AT&T said Friday that Stephenson will remain the company’s executive chairman until January 2021 “to ensure a smooth leadership transition.” Stankey will join the board on June 1 — but he will not be the company’s next chairman. AT&T said that it will name an independent director after Stephenson steps down from that role next year.
Stankey, who until earlier this month was also CEO of WanerMedia, was named president and COO of AT&T last October. At that time, Stankey’s promotion was widely believed to be a sign that he was first in line to one day take over for Stephenson.
AT&T board director Beth Mooney said in a statement that the selection of Stankey capped a succession planning process that began in 2017 and included a review of candidates from both inside and outside the company.
“Leadership succession is one of the Board’s most important responsibilities,” Mooney said. “After an extensive evaluation, it was clear that John Stankey was the right person to lead AT&T into the future.”
The selection of Stankey caps a busy month for the company. Ma Bell announced in early April that Jason Kilar, the former head of streaming media service Hulu, would take over as CEO of WarnerMedia — the unit that owns HBO, TNT and the Warner Bros. studio as well as CNN.
AT&T also announced earlier this week that it did not plan to cut its prized dividend when it reported its earnings for the first quarter.
The company said growth in its wireless telecom unit helped offset declines at WarnerMedia, which has been hit by a slump in advertising and the shutdown of movie theaters due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
