Verizon has officially named Dan Schulman, former CEO of PayPal, as its new chief executive. The announcement came on Monday, October 6, and takes effect immediately.
Schulman will take over leadership duties from Hans Vestberg, who has been at the helm of Verizon since 2018.
Vestberg, known for shaping Verizon's 5G strategy, will stay on as a special advisor through October 4, 2026.
He is expected to continue serving on Verizon's Board of Directors through the company's 2026 annual meeting.
Verizon's board chair, Mark Bertolini, praised the appointment. "Dan is a seasoned and decisive leader with a unique set of experiences, and a proven record of transformative leadership and operational excellence," Bertolini said.
"He is the right leader to chart Verizon's next phase of increased customer focus and financial growth."
Bertolini was also appointed as chairman of the board in the same announcement.
According to CNBC, before joining Verizon, Schulman led PayPal from 2014 to 2023. During his time there, he helped grow the company's revenue from $8 billion to $30 billion and added hundreds of millions of users.
He has also held leadership roles at AT&T, Virgin Mobile, Priceline, and American Express.
Verizon named Dan Schulman CEO effective immediately, replacing Hans Vestberg, who will stay on through Oct. 4, 2026. John Butler of Bloomberg Intelligence has more https://t.co/JItEfWWvpu pic.twitter.com/9pbWpzDbaU
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) October 6, 2025
Verizon Taps Dan Schulman as CEO Amid Frontier Deal
Schulman, who joined Verizon's Board of Directors in 2018, took on the role of lead independent director in late 2024.
"Verizon is at a critical juncture," Schulman said in a statement. "We have a clear opportunity to redefine our trajectory by growing our market share and improving key financial areas. I'm honored to take on this role."
Schulman's first major task as CEO will be overseeing Verizon's acquisition of Frontier Communications, a fiber-optic internet provider.
Verizon agreed to buy Frontier for $9.6 billion and will take on $10 billion in debt as part of the deal, USA Today reported.
The merger is expected to close in early 2026 and will help Verizon expand its broadband network to about one million more homes across the U.S.
Vestberg will help lead this transition as a special advisor, focusing on the integration of Frontier into Verizon's operations.
Despite the big news, Verizon shares dropped about 5% on Monday after the announcement.
The company also reaffirmed its full-year 2025 financial guidance, signaling no major changes to its short-term plans.
Originally published on vcpost.com
