John Stankey has served as CEO of AT&T Inc. for 6 years 4 months (2,326 days), holding office continuously since Jul 1, 2020. At present, John Stankey ranks as the #61 longest-serving chief executive among tracked leaders in the database.
Executive Succession & Corporate Facts
- Predecessor
- Not recorded
- Successor
- Active (Currently serving in office)
- Database Tenure Rank
- #61 Longest-Serving CEO in Database (View Full Rankings →)
- Company Founded
- Oct 5, 1983 (Dallas, Texas)
- Known Aliases
- John T. Stankey
Tenure Milestones & Transition Timeline
John Stankey Appointed Next CEO of AT&T Effective July 1, 2020
AT&T announced long-time CEO Randall Stephenson would retire and President and COO John Stankey was appointed Chief Executive Officer.
John Stankey Officially Takes Office as CEO of AT&T
Stankey took executive leadership, beginning a strategic review of non-core entertainment acquisitions to reduce corporate leverage.
AT&T Announces $43 Billion Deal to Spin Off WarnerMedia and Merge with Discovery
Stankey engineered the tax-free separation of WarnerMedia to merge with Discovery, unwinding the 2018 Time Warner acquisition.
AT&T Closes WarnerMedia Spinoff, Completing Telecom Pure-Play Pivot
Stankey completed the WarnerMedia transaction, cutting billions in net debt and refocusing AT&T's capital purely on 5G wireless and fiber broadband.
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