Edward Whitacre Jr., who built the company into the largest US provider of telephone services, announced unexpectedly on Friday that he will retire as chairman and chief executive in June. Randall Stephenson, the 47-year old chief operating officer of AT&T, was chosen on Friday to succeed Edward Whitacre as chairman and chief executive of the largest US telecommunications group. Texas-born Whitacre, 65, has pronounced his retirement after 44 years at an annual shareholders meeting in San Antonio, concluding his career as the telecommunications industry’s most famous deal maker and longest-serving CEO.
Edward Whitacre Jr. has driven AT&T into the largest telecommunications company in the world by market capitalization, making several acquisitions one by one. The firm’s share price has surged almost 50 percent in the past year alone, leaving many competitors in the dust. However, when the veteran executive retires, he would joint the rank with the corporate elite in another fashion. His retirement payout will be among the top pension packages in the country, weighing in at $161.6 million including $73.8 million in deferred compensation and the $84.7 million in his pension fund.
In his 17 years at the helm, he spear headed the company’s growth from a regional telephone provider to the nation’s largest provider of wireless, broadband and traditional phone service through an aggressive string of takeovers, the latest of them include the $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth.
Though the company’s stock has been soaring in recent times and is trading at 5-year highs, the compensation of Whitacre and other AT&T executives has been the subject of consideration among some shareholders, who have lobbied for more say in how much the executives earn. However, on Friday, three shareholder-maneuvered initiatives to limit compensation and pension funds were defeated.
While announcing his retirement he said, ‘I’ve always considered it my main priority to ensure the long-term viability of the company. I have great confidence in the next generation of leadership.’
AT&T’s incoming chairman and chief executive, Randall Stephenson, will inherit a enormously huge firm competing in a more intense telecom landscape than ever before when he takes the control from longtime Chairman and CEO Edward Whitacre in June. Stephenson, 47 years old and a 25-year company veteran, has been chief operating officer since 2004, rose through the ranks of AT&T and its predecessors. Formerly the chief financial officer, Stephenson is recognized for overseeing the company’s effort to lessen debt, which allowed it to make an aggressive series of acquisitions.
