AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is looking for key organizational changes to follow the acquisition deal of Time Warner Inc., comprising refined role for CEO Randall Stephenson, as the telecomm firm morphs into a media firm. Stephenson will watch a pair of CEOs who will manage the firm’s media and telecommunications businesses, independently. Stephenson will still remain the top executive of the firm, focused on charting the firm’s new course as a media company. He will remain CEO and chairman of AT&T, denying an earlier report that he would resign the CEO title.
The details
John Stankey, who now heads DirecTV and other entertainment operations, will head the media segment, including Time Warner. DirecTV is projected to become part of a segment that comprises AT&T’s conventional phone businesses, to be seen by John Donovan.
The reorganization follows the structure of other successful deals of disparate businesses. By naming two personnel who can manage its operations at arm’s length, AT&T could resolve regulators’ concerns that the firm’s broadband and TV networks would favor content developed by Time Warner’s Warner Bros or HBO.
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes and Stephenson are still working on strategies for implementing the merger deal. Decisions related to leadership and organizational structure have yet to be finalized. Bewkes has mentioned that he will stay on in some role for at least a year after the deal is complete.
Excepting any oppositions from antitrust watchdogs or interference by President Donald Trump, who has expressed his opposition to the merger and has a prevailing dispute with CNN, AT&T reported that it anticipates the deal to complete by year end. The separation of company’s new segments will be both cultural and geographical.
In the last trading session, the stock price of AT&T declined more than 1% to close the day at $35.99. The market cap of firm stands around $221 billion.