Hans Vestberg to become Verizon board chairman on March 8
The Board of Directors of has elected CEO Hans E. Vestberg, who succeeded Lowell C. McAdam as CEO of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) August 1, 2018, will take his place as chairman of the board, effective March 8, 2019. The move is one of several on the board that Verizon announced last week.
McAdam stepped into the role of non-executive chairman at the end of last year to assist Vestberg as the latter got up to speed in his new position (see “Hans Vestberg to replace Lowell McAdam as Verizon CEO”). McAdam will remain on the board until company’s annual meeting of shareholders on May 2, 2019, at which point he will retire. McAdam became Verizon’s CEO in August 2011 and chairman since January 2012. Vestberg, meanwhile, has served on Verizon’s board since June 2018, when he was named McAdams’ successor.
Meanwhile, two other members of the Verizon board are on their way out. M. Frances Keeth will face mandatory retirement in May. The board has elected Clarence Otis, Jr., as lead director, effective March 8, 2019, to take his place. Otis has been a member of Verizon’s board since 2006. He is the former chairman and CEO of Darden Restaurants, Inc.
Verizon also announced that Richard L. Carrion has decided not to stand for re-election to the board. Carrion is a longstanding member of the board; he joined upon Verizon’s founding in 2000 and before that was on the board of predecessor company NYNEX.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher
Stephen Hardy has covered fiber optics for more than 15 years, and communications and technology for more than 30 years. He is responsible for establishing and executing Lightwave's editorial strategy across its digital magazine, website, newsletters, research and other information products. He has won multiple awards for his writing.
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