John T. Stankey (born 1962) is an American businessman who is the CEO of AT&T.[1][2] He previously was AT&T's president and COO and before that CEO of WarnerMedia.[3][2][4] He assumed the CEO role of AT&T in July 2020, succeeding Randall L. Stephenson.[5]
Early life and education
Stankey was raised in Los Angeles, the youngest of three children.[6] His father was an insurance underwriter and his mother a housewife.[6]
In 1985, Stankey took an entry-level position with Pacific Bell,[2][6][9] which was acquired by SBC Communications in 1996.[10] Stankey went on to serve as the executive vice president of industry markets beginning in 1998, and became the executive president of industry markets in 2000.[9] In 2001 Stankey became the president and CEO of SBC Southwest.[9]
Stankey served as CIO of the "new AT&T" after the merger of SBC with AT&T Corporation finalized in 2005.[11] He was the senior executive vice president and CTO for AT&T from 2008 to 2012. In January 2012, he became the CSO and group president of AT&T.[9]
Stankey served on the board of directors for UPS from 2014 until 2020.[12]
In 2018,[13] Stankey was named CEO of WarnerMedia,[14] which owns various media and film corporations, including Warner Bros., HBO, Turner Broadcasting System, and CNN.[15] On October 1, 2019, Stankey became the COO of AT&T while continuing to serve as the CEO of WarnerMedia.[16] Stankey received US$22.5 million in compensation during the 2019 fiscal year, and $21 million during the following year.[17]
On April 1, 2020, AT&T announced that Stankey would be stepping down as CEO of WarnerMedia. Former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar assumed the role effective May 1, 2020, reporting to Stankey.[18] On July 1, 2020, Stankey replaced Randall L. Stephenson as CEO of AT&T Inc.[19][20]
In February 2021, Stankey oversaw the sale of a third of AT&T's stake in DirecTV to TPG Capital for $16.25 billion.[21] AT&T had paid 48 billion ($67 billion including debt) to purchase DirecTV in 2015[22] under Stephenson.[20] Stankey also oversaw WarnerMedia's sale to Discovery Inc. in May 2021, for $43 billion in cash, plus an estimated $59 billion in Discovery, Inc. stock.[23] AT&T had paid $85 billion for WarnerMedia in 2018 under Stephenson.[24]
On April 30, 2021, AT&T announced that a nonbinding shareholder vote had rejected AT&T's executive compensation proposal by a slight majority,[25] which came after reports that AT&T had "lost $5.4 billion and cut thousands of jobs".[17] In 2023, Stankey's total compensation from AT&T was $25.7 million, representing a CEO-to-median worker pay ratio of 193-to-1.[26] After the US government ceased funding the Affordable Connectivity Program, in April 2024 Stankey announced that AT&T would direct $3 billion to address the "digital divide" of high-speed-internet access in the United States.[27]
References
^Lee, Edmund (April 24, 2020). "AT&T Names John Stankey C.E.O. as Randall Stephenson Plans to Retire". The New York Times. Retrieved January 15, 2021. AT&T, the telecommunications giant that has moved into media and entertainment, announced a changing of the guard on Friday. John Stankey, a veteran of the company, will become its new chief executive starting July 1. He will take the reins from Randall L. Stephenson, who has led AT&T since 2007.
^Lee, Edmund (April 24, 2020). "AT&T Names John Stankey C.E.O. as Randall Stephenson Plans to Retire". The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2021. After he was named chief operating officer and president in October, the hedge fund noted with disapproval that Mr. Stankey "would now also be responsible for an additional $145 billion of revenue as the president and C.O.O. of the entire company."
^ abGelles, David (April 24, 2021). "C.E.O. Pay Remains Stratospheric, Even at Companies Battered by Pandemic". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved November 22, 2022. AT&T, the media conglomerate, lost $5.4 billion and cut thousands of jobs throughout the year. John Stankey, the chief executive, received $21 million for his work in 2020, down from $22.5 million in 2019. Note, this quote presents in its entirety, the content of this article with regard to Mr. Stankey.
^"AT&T's DirecTV to become standalone video business". Reuters. August 2, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021. AT&T in February agreed to sell about a third of its stake in DirecTV to TPG Capital in a deal that valued the business at $16.25 billion, well below the $68 billion AT&T had paid for the asset less than six years ago.
^Goldsmith, Jill (February 26, 2021). "WarnerMedia Parent AT&T Sells DirecTV Stake To Private Equity Firm TPG". Deadline. Retrieved December 13, 2021. AT&T CEO John Stankey admitted, "We certainly didn't expect this" in 2015 when the telco giant acquired DirecTV for $48 billion (or $67 billion including debt).
^Lynch, David J. (May 22, 2021). "Analysis : AT&T's ill-fated media play cost it both time and money". Washington Post. Retrieved December 13, 2021. Based on Discovery's stock price on May 14, the day before the transaction was disclosed, those shares would be worth $59 billion. AT&T will get $43 billion in cash, securities and WarnerMedia's agreement to retain $1.5 billion of its debt.
