About Randall Stephenson
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.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Randall Stephenson's recent appearances.
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Transcript (6 segments)
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Randall Stephenson0:04
I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. My dad being in the cattle feed business, I logically went to college and studied animal husbandry. I had to take an accounting class. Dr. Bud Lacy took me aside after class one time and made a point to let me know that I was scoring exceptionally high. He said, 'You may want to consider doing this as a living.' Literally the next day, it was 105 degrees in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and I was at the bull and cow test station. That led me to think, 'You know, I really could do that, and that might be more interesting than what I'm doing here.' So I changed my major to accounting, and I asked my wife at that time to marry me. And my wife said, 'I'd love to marry you, but you got to get a job.' I went and spoke to my brother who was working for Southwestern Bell Telephone, and I got on at Southwestern Bell the old-fashioned way. My brother got me on. That's how my career at Southwestern Bell, which ultimately became AT&T, began.
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AT&T Executive1:11
I think if there's something that I learned from Randall was watching him through, you know, very difficult and trying times. Randall was always a very calm, never reactionary individual. Something really bad could happen or something really challenging to the business, and you always knew what you were going to get.
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Randall Stephenson1:30
When I was appointed Chief Financial Officer under Ed Whitaker, the company was in a difficult situation. 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 significant acquisition spree. We had acquired BellSouth and Ameritech and Pacific Telesis and AT&T Wireless and ultimately AT&T. At that time, when Ed transitioned the business to me, 100% of our profits were from our wireline business.
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AT&T Executive2:08
For very early days when Randall came in as CEO of the company, the first period of his tenure as CEO was really defined around something that we just take as second nature today: that this is at its heart a mobile business. And what an important call that was. In a very short period of time, we built an amazing wireless company that is now the anchor of this business. AT&T now is a company that has to evolve and change. Given the pace of technological change, that's a really, really difficult job. Randall managed that impeccably over his tenure. Giving back to the community was something that was really important to Randall as the leader of our business. He understood it was foundational to everything that we did. So I've always felt very strongly that all of us need to work aggressively towards ensuring that all of our kids are educated. So as CEO, we directed the lion's share of our philanthropic giving to education. AT&T, through Randall's leadership, created the Aspire program that ended up being a 600 million dollar set of initiatives that all went towards helping high school students complete and get their degree.
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Randall Stephenson3:26
There was a moment in 2016 when the Ferguson, Missouri riots occurred, and there was just incredible racial tension. So I made a speech to an internal group of our employees. It was expected to be a family talk. It was captured on video and became viral, and to this day, people still refer to it. And he challenged us—he challenged us to really not just tolerate but understand diversity and inclusion. I've always thought a lot of him, but that night I was particularly proud. Work hard, move into uncomfortable territory, and understand each other.
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AT&T Executive4:13
Randall clearly viewed AT&T as an integral part of the communities in which we operate. He also viewed our responsibility as leaders and individuals as engaging to solve problems and make those communities better. My predecessor one day was sitting in a conference room with Randall, and he said, 'You know, we need to make sure that all of our customers know how to use our products safely.' They brainstormed and they came up with the 'It Can Wait' program, meaning whatever it is, if you're driving a vehicle, don't use that mobile phone; it could wait. Today, we've had more than 44 million people take the pledge to not text while driving. If you're going to be a great leader, it helps when you start out as just being a really good, decent, authentic individual. People loved Randall, and they watched him not only lead us and guide us, but they also watched him walk the talk. And that's the kind of leader everybody wants to work for. You.
