AT&T’s Randall Stephenson Announces Retirement

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Exec led purchase of DirecTV, Time Warner

Randall Stephenson AT&T
Randall Stephenson retired from AT&T (Image credit: AT&T)

Randall Stephenson, former CEO of AT&T, retired as executive chairman of the company’s board of directors.

According to filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he told the company on Jan. 19 that he would retire on Jan. 21.

Stephenson and the company agreed on a one-year consulting services agreement that will pay Stephenson $1 million over the course of one year. He was paid $32 million in 2019. AT&T hasn’t yet released executive compensation data for 2020.

Stephenson became CEO of AT&T in 2007 and tried to move the phone company into the entertainment business with the $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV in 2015 and the $85 billion purchase of Time Warner in 2018.

He was succeeded by AT&T’s current CEO, John Stankey, last July.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.