Former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Att
Search every verified Randall Stephenson interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote β each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Randall Stephenson, former chairman and CEO of AT&T, has spoken publicly about the company's strategy regarding its proposed merger with Time Warner, 5G technology, and broader economic policy. In 2016 testimony before a Senate subcommittee, Stephenson argued that the merger would benefit consumers by providing more choices and lower-priced options, and he stated that AT&T would not withhold Time Warner content to disadvantage competitors. He also said that AT&T had been the largest investor in the United States for five consecutive years and that he expected that to continue. At the 2019 FinTech Ideas Festival, Stephenson discussed the potential of 5G networks, stating that the technology would enable precise location tracking of devices within centimeters, which he said could change how authentication and identity are handled in digital transactions. Stephenson has also addressed social and political issues. In a 2018 interview, he discussed a 2016 speech he gave to AT&T employees about Black Lives Matter, saying he was glad it went viral because it initiated conversations about race within the company and among other CEOs. On economic policy, he stated in 2016 that a 2% growth rate was "unacceptable" and called for tax reform and the approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership to stimulate growth. He also noted that regulatory and tax policies had influenced AT&T's investment decisions, including its expansion into Mexico.
“when i was appointed chief financial officer under ed whitaker the company was in a difficult situation and i remember ed whitaker saying we got to get rid of all this debt in 18 months we took the debt from that 30 billion to net debt of zero we cleaned up our debt portfolio and when the situation cleared we went on a...”
“at that time when ed transitioned the business to me 100 of our profits were from our wire wireline business”
“I regret that we as a society have not appreciated the significance of what an investment in the education of our young people produces and how it actually the returns that it creates for a state and the taxpayer.”
“I would suggest that tax reform that tax policy drove unprecedented levels of investment for the next three to four years. It drove, unless they drove, the first time in 20 years, enhanced productivity in Corporate America.”
“When I stepped down three years ago, I viewed at that time the greatest competitive threat facing the United States was the reality that all of these silicon chips... are almost exclusively manufactured in either Taiwan, a large amount of them in China. If there were ever a moment of hostilities, what would be the bigg...”
“We've been investing a lot to make this happen and as we think about building out these kind of capabilities invariably we will build out these kind of capabilities and somebody will make a lot of money to you know taking advantage of these capabilities Apple did quite well off the mobile internet when we made the inte...”
“We bid to spend 40 billion dollars to build out this network and we want it we won it last year and so we have a number of years to get this network built but it requires us to cover the entire country with high speed wireless tape ability and that's really great for first responders and I'm excited about that but it a...”
“Congress needs to step up and they need to take this issue on comprehensively thou shalt not block thou shalt not throttle according to statutes written by Congress and by the way while you're at it you need to talk about privacy what what can companies do with customer data what can all companies not just ours but all...”
“Media companies at least the older media company set Netflix and Google and Amazon aside for a moment the media companies don't know who their end-user customers are they have no relationship with them they don't know what they're watching they don't know when they're watching it and where they are when they're watchin...”
“I said I know I asked you to be tolerant tolerance is for cowards it would be tolerant requires nothing from you other than just to passively sit back and not be challenged by your own thoughts and understandings go out and understand and so within AT&T it initiated a process where I mean it's just it's been pervasive...”
“Business doesn't work, free markets don't work in an environment where a large class of our people are perceiving and experiencing injustice and in social unrest is not exactly conducive to a functioning free market economy and so we have an imperative to begin to use our muscle and our influence to begin to affect pol...”
“There's a philosophy the Rudy Giuliani made prominent about broken windows policing and what's the whole premise of this you walked into a neighborhood and you see a lot of broken windows it just sends a signal that we are tolerant of crime and the question I have is do we have policies within law enforcement that send...”
“We came into the year 2019 last year and we told everybody number-one priority was get the debt paid down and so we took on 40 billion dollars a debt to do this deal and we exited last year having paid off 30 billion dollars of the debt. We said we wanted to get to two and a half times debt to EBIT, that was our thresh...”
“I just don't think it's a good idea [for the government to take positions in private companies]. I think the development is going rather well. I do think some things have come out a White House recently about are there other solutions, though the industry should be looking at to ensure that we're not tied to single pro...”
“The world was supposed to end in Silicon Valley with nanotech and it didn't yet, and now was it were they hoping that this was gonna succeed? Is it gonna end now? Now that it's not? I mean we can put it to bed now. Can't wait? Your points really good, because when the FCC ruled that they were pulling down those Tom Whe...”
Randall Stephenson served for 13 years as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AT&T, capping off a 40-year career when he started with the company in 1982. Born and raised in Moore, Oklahoma, Stephenson had OU DNA in his veins from an early age, going on to pursue a master's in accountancy from the University of Oklahoma. Randall Stephenson is a great example of the OU legacy and a positive influence to everyone graduating from the University of Oklahoma to continue their commitments to hard work and faithfulness to their friends, family and communities. --The University of Oklahoma iβ¦
President Joe Harroz is joined by Randall Stephenson via Zoom. Stephenson is the former CEO of AT&T, retiring in 2021. Stephenson, who was born in Moore, Oklahoma, earned his masterβs degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1986 and went to work for Southwestern Bell until working his way up. He earned a status as a global leader in technology and innovation. (0:00 β 2:20) Introduction (2:23 β 3:39) Randall Stephensonβs OU origin story (3:40 β 6:48) How OU prepared Stephenson for professional life (6:49 β 9:22) Stephensonβs advice for OU graduates (9:23 β 14:44) The importance of affordableβ¦
Randall it's great to see you. Thank You Abby good to see you good to be in Boston yeah well since it's just the two of us hereΒ ...
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson on Tuesday called on fellow chief executives to speak up for racial justice following the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2JdMwO7 Β» Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision Β» Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC Β» Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwiβ¦
AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson joins "Squawk Box" from Pebble Beach to discuss the January jobs report, Huawei and more. Economists forecast a slight pickup in job growth in January over December, but warmer weather could have been a positive factor that could have encouraged more hiring than expected in construction and some other industries. Economists expect 158,000 nonfarm payrolls were added in January, up from 145,000 in December, according to Dow Jones. Unemployment is expected to hold steady at 3.5%, while average hourly wages were expected to grow by 0.3%. About 500,000 jβ¦
Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T, interviewed by Scott T. Ford, co-founder and CEO of Westrock Group, gives his insights on the topic of Media, Communications and The Economy.
Banking at the Speed of Light: FinTech in a 5G World - Day 1 of the 2019 FinTech Ideas Festival featuring Randall Stephenson from AT&T. Moderated by CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin. The 2019 FinTech Ideas Festival took place on March 27 - 28, 2019 and was brought to you by Bank Policy Institute. To learn more about FinTech Ideas Festival, please visit www.FinTechIdeasFestival.com.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson speaks at the Fintech Ideas Festival about banking in a 5G world, with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin. Β» Subscribe to CNBC: http://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC About CNBC: From 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more. Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/ Receive exclusive commentary from CNBC anchor Kelly Evans: https://www.cnbc.com/theexchangenewsl... Find CNBC News on Facebook: http://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC Follow CNBC Nβ¦
AT&T Randall Stephenson interview by Carlyle co-Founder David Rubenstein filmed by Capitol Intelligence/BBN using CI Glass at the Economic Club of Washington, DC on March 20, 2019 in Washington, DC.
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