McAdam positioned to become Verizon CEO next year
Moves from Verizon Wireless to be Seidenberg's deputy, Daniel Mead to replace him
Published: 20 September, 2010
READ MORE: People/Management | US | Verizon Communications
Hiring new CEOs seems to be flavour of the month, though Verizon is being almost as predictable as LG in lining up a long term insider. The firm has appointed the current head of its Verizon Wireless joint venture, Lowell McAdam, as COO, setting him up to take the CEO post when its current holder, Ivan Seidenberg, steps down. That is likely to be next year, when he turns 65.
The change is unlikely to create dramatic change in Verizon, given that McAdam is a long time executive and not known for radical thought, but it should put wireless even higher up the corporate agenda, as Verizon becomes increasingly reliant on mobile and converged services to drive growth. McAdam may push even harder to buy Vodafone out of its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless, in order to get full control of this growth engine, and he is also expected to bring the telco even closer to Google.
As blogger Om Malik points out, McAdam and Google CEO Eric Schmidt teamed up in 2009 on a major statement of Verizon's commitment to Android, which it has placed at the heart of its smartphone and anti-AT&T strategies. Although there are some tensions in the relationship - for instance, Verizon Wireless is creating its own Android store in preference to Android Market - there is still a high level of collaboration, beyond what Google enjoys with most cellcos, which tend to be suspicious of its open access agenda. The two companies are currently working on a tablet to deliver a multiscreen experience for mobile and IPTV services.
McAdam was made EVP and COO of Verizon Wireless when it was formed in 2000. At that time, few would have envisaged that mobile venture becoming the most important element of the mighty Verizon. In its statement, Verizon said McAdam will oversee the company's business, telecom and wireless businesses as well as technology management and CIO functions. Daniel Mead will become CEO of Verizon Wireless and John Stratton, currently CMO of the mobile arm, will become its COO. Meanwhile, Verizon also named a new CFO, Fran Shammo, who currently runs the Telecom and Business division and will succeed John Killian at the end of the year. Killian was seen as the other likely successor for Seidenberg, along with McAdam, but announced last week that he was retiring.
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