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First Walt Disney Co’s Bob Iger, and now AT&T Inc’s Randall Stephenson. As two of the world’s most powerful
entertainment and communications companies confront the streaming wars and the Covid-19 pandemic — bracing for what may be a new normal brought on by both — they’ll have to venture into the unknown under new leadership.
Stephenson, who took a prosaic phone brand and morphed it into a hulking media and internet conglomerate with an eye toward a data-intense, video-centric future, is retiring after 13 years as CEO. He’ll be replaced on July 1 by John Stankey, another longtime AT&T executive who has served as Stephenson’s right-hand man, leading a series of gutsy acquisition efforts, including the DirecTV satellite business and Time Warner, an iconic Hollywood institution.
AT&T’s announcement comes just two months after Iger, who served as Disney’s CEO for nearly 15 years, decided to retire, handing the reins to Bob Chapek, the head of its theme parks division. Both Stephenson and Iger are staying on as executive chairmen through the rest of the year. Neither retirement is a surprise, though they were both a tad sooner than expected. There’s no telling what the lasting effects of this public-health-turned-economic
crisis will be on either company. Stephenson, who celebrated his 60th birthday last week, was expected to remain CEO through 2020, at least according to an agreement AT&T struck with an activist investor in October. The shareholder, Elliott Management Corp, had pushed AT&T to hit the pause button on its dealmaking and focus on streamlining the company toward a higher stock price. That was before the coronavirus wiped out more than $60 billion of shareholder value.
Elliott said that it supports Stankey as the next CEO, adding that it was involved in the “robust†search process, which included
external candidates. How active Stephenson will remain in management decisions as executive chairman is unknown, though Iger has reportedly reasserted his control at Disney as the company — with its theme parks, cruise ships, film and advertising businesses all taking a hit — manages its way through the pandemic.
For investors and employees, it may take a little adjusting to get acclimated with Stankey, 57, who most recently served as chief operating officer and has also been running the WarnerMedia division since that deal closed. Stephenson, an affable Oklahoma native who still has a bit of that country lilt, often breaks into passionate mini-speeches marveling at the wonders of the digital future.
—Bloomberg