Good morning. There are more leadership changes in the Fortune 500, with Verizon’s CFO, Tony Skiadas, gaining a new strategic partner—Dan Schulman—as chief executive.
Verizon (No. 30) announced on Monday that its lead director, Schulman, most recently CEO of PayPal and formerly with AT&T and Virgin Mobile, is succeeding Hans Vestberg as Verizon’s CEO, effective immediately. The company reconfirmed its full-year 2025 guidance and postponed the release of its third-quarter earnings report to Oct. 29.
Mark Bertolini, Verizon’s chairman, called Vestberg, in a statement, “an extraordinary leader” who drove network investment and innovation. He said that with the Frontier Communications acquisition nearing completion, “the board and Hans discussed that now is the right time for a CEO transition.”
Bertolini stated that Schulman is the right leader to guide Verizon’s next phase of increased customer focus and financial growth. Schulman said in a statement that he’s honored to serve as CEO, adding, “Verizon is at a critical juncture.” Schulman has served on Verizon’s board since 2018 and was elected lead independent director in December.
Michael Hodel, director of communications services equity research for Morningstar, told me that Verizon underperformed under Vestberg, “at least in the eyes of many market participants.” He continued, “From my view, Verizon has struggled to articulate a clear strategy around market positioning, branding, and pricing, sticking too long to messaging that produced success when it was clearly the best network in the industry.”
Hodel added that Verizon needs to adapt to the current market structure and “has failed to live up to growth forecasts under Vestberg.” Hodel added: “My guess is that the board was losing patience given how the stock has performed.”
Scott Simmons, co-managing partner at executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates, commented on Verizon’s announcement: “Vestberg was named CEO in 2018, seven years ago, and the stock has not moved in the right direction the past few years, which increased pressure from investors,” Simmons said.
Verizon’s stock price has dropped notably since its peak between 2018 and 2020 and is down about 30% over the past five years, reflecting sustained underperformance compared to broader market indices. On Monday, the stock fell by 5% following the announcement that Schulman has replaced Vestberg as CEO. Verizon did not provide further comment on the reason for the CEO change.
Simmons, who has more than 20 years of experience in executive recruiting, described Schulman as bringing a fresh perspective to Verizon, with leadership experience across multiple industries, including telecom and fintech. He noted that Schulman successfully transformed PayPal, now valued at nearly $70 billion. “Schulman is the force that will change Verizon’s direction,” Simmons said.
Wireless industry ‘entering a new era’
Mike Dano, lead analyst at Ookla, a tech company that measures internet connection speed and performance, wrote in a LinkedIn post on Monday: “Broadly, we’re entering a new era in the U.S. wireless industry, with early 5G buildouts wrapping up and, now, a big focus on fiber getting underway.”
Verizon is competing with major industry players, including AT&T and T-Mobile. In September 2024, Verizon announced its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, a leading U.S. fiber broadband provider. Although Vestberg has stepped down as CEO, he will serve as special advisor through Oct. 4, 2026, and will oversee the integration with Frontier Communications, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, according to Verizon.
When I asked Skiadas last month what distinguishes Verizon among its competitors, he cited the company’s investment of about $200 billion in wireless spectrum and networks over the past seven years—almost $18 billion annually—to strengthen its network. “That’s really the hallmark of our company, and then giving customers choice and flexibility,” Skiadas said. He became CFO in 2023 and has been with Verizon and its predecessors for nearly three decades.
Regarding the CEO-CFO dynamic, “I would argue CEOs and CFOs must be strategic partners, or else something in that equation is broken,” Simmons said. “Knowledge diminishes risk, and the familiarity between a board member, Schulman, and the CFO, Skiadas, should smooth the path toward success as strategic partners—assuming a certain level of professional respect exists between the two.”
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.co
Leaderboard
Anthony Armstrong has been appointed CFO of xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence group, the Financial Times reports. Armstrong will replace Mike Liberatore, who left the startup this year for OpenAI after three months in the role. Liberatore departed following clashes with some members of Musk’s inner circle, according to the report. Armstrong will reportedly oversee the finance function for both xAI and the social media platform X. Musk merged X and xAI in March, valuing the combined group at $113 billion. Formerly the head of global technology mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, Armstrong was part of the team hired by Musk to facilitate the acquisition of X, then known as Twitter. Most recently, Armstrong worked for the Trump administration as a senior adviser to the Office of Personnel Management.
Marshall Witt was appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer of FedEx Freight, effective Oct. 15. Witt’s appointment completes FedEx Freight’s executive leadership team, joining the previously announced leadership roles. FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) is preparing for the separation of FedEx Freight into an independent company. Witt is the former CFO of TD SYNNEX, a global IT distributor and solutions provider. Prior to joining TD SYNNEX, Witt spent 15 years at FedEx, primarily within the FedEx Freight finance organization, where he most recently served as senior vice president of finance and controller.
Big Deal
Sports team acquisitions are on pace to set an annual record in 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Private equity is driving higher valuations and encouraging long-time owners to sell.
As of August, aggregate deal value reached $23.6 billion for the year, putting 2025 on track to surpass the previous full-year record of $16.6 billion set in 2023.
The 2025 total includes two megadeals: the $10 billion sale of The Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. announced in June, and the $4.25 billion sale of the Portland Trail Blazers Inc. pending agreement in August.
Going deeper
"AMD stock jumps on OpenAI deal as Big Tech seeks to reduce reliance on Nvidia" is a Fortune report by Sharon Goldman.
From the report: "AMD announced a long-term partnership with OpenAI on Monday that will make it one of the startup’s key chip suppliers for running its AI models. The company’s stock jumped 28% in midday trading on the news of the multiyear deal, which could generate tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue for AMD over time and marks one of the largest AI infrastructure commitments that’s not based on processors from industry leader Nvidia." Read the complete report here.
Overheard
"You want to be placed in rooms of opportunities when you’re not physically there."
—Scott Galloway, a professor of clinical marketing at NYU's Stern School of Business, said during a recent episode of Shane Smith’s Vice News podcast that effective networking creates advocates who will recommend you for positions even when you’re not actively job searching.
