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Verizon gets a new CEO "to delight our customers" and "redefine our trajectory"

Hans Vestberg steps down after eight years to pass the baton to former PayPal CEO Dan Schulman.

By Anam Hamid

Updated: Oct 06, 2025, 1:03 PM

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Verizon Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hans Vestberg is passing the torch to Dan Schulman to lead the company through one of its toughest chapters yet.

Schulman started out at AT&T, spent nearly two decades there, ran Priceline for two years, and helped launch Virgin Mobile. He most recently served as CEO of PayPal.

New Verizon CEO is known for turning companies around

Verizon is shaking up its upper ranks as it navigates a challenging environment of fierce competition, increasing customer losses, and table-stakes decisions.

Schulman has been with Verizon as a board member since 2018 and was elected Lead Independent Director late last year. The company has also elected Mark Bertolini as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Bertolini was previously CEO of Oscar Health.

Dan is a seasoned and decisive leader with a unique set of experiences, and a proven record of transformative leadership and operational excellence. He is the right leader to chart Verizon's next phase of increased customer focus and financial growth.

Mark Bertolini, Chairman Verizon Board of Directors, October 2025

Vestberg, who has been at the helm since 2018 and has been instrumental in the company's 5G buildout, will oversee the acquisition of fiber-internet company Frontier Communications as Special Advisor. He is expected to remain on the Board of Directors until 2026.

Schulman is expected to lead a new era of financial growth, customer focus, and industry leadership at Verizon.

Verizon is at a critical juncture. We have a clear opportunity to redefine our trajectory, by growing our market share across all segments of the market.

Dan Schulman, Chief Executive Officer Verizon, October 2025

Verizon is counting on Schulman's diverse set of experiences, operational excellence, and transformative leadership style to steer it through a difficult phase. The company has been performing below market expectations and losing postpaid subscribers this year.

Verizon's leadership is at stake

Rival AT&T has been racking up subscriber gains and T-Mobile has been boasting about dethroning other carriers as the best network.

Schulman hopes to "regain our leadership in our sector across mobility and broadband."

Verizon's announcement comes a month before a new CEO is set to take over T-Mobile. Verizon is the largest carrier in the US by customers, but has lost customers for two straight quarters.

Will Verizon's new CEO be better for customers?

Schulman doesn't have a magic wand

As Ookla's Lead Industry Analyst Mike Dano notes, Schulman's first task will be to decide whether it should purchase EchoStar's 21 MHz of AWS-3 spectrum. This purchase could help it keep pace with AT&T and T-Mobile. It would boost Verizon's spectrum holdings by an estimated 7 percent, giving its fixed wireless access (FWA) capacity a boost.

We view this as a negative for VZ and a broader negative for the Wireless industry. For VZ, we find the timing, seeming lack of consideration of other candidates, and Mr. Schulman's experience, which is likely more as a change agent as opposed to direct Wireless experience, all to be interesting.

KeyBanc Capital Markets financial analysts, October 2025

Verizon's decision comes as something of a surprise. For instance, many were expecting Executive VP and CEO of Verizon Consumer Group Sowmyanarayan Sampath to succeed Vestberg as CEO.

Also, while Schulman may have a proven track record of leading companies to success, his expertise lies more in corporate turnarounds than wireless innovation.

While there may not be any immediate changes for customers, a high churn rate appears to be one of the key reasons a new CEO was brought in. This is a good sign for subscribers and could lead to more competitiveness within the wireless industry. Verizon has already started a price war of sorts.

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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.

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