Verizon CFO Hunt Continues As Carrier Looks For Potential CEO Successor: Report

The carrier giant is reportedly looking to identify a new finance leader that could later succeed Verizon’s CEO of five years, Hans Vestberg.

Verizon is working with executive recruiting and advisory firm Spencer Stuart to find a new finance leader that could later succeed the carrier giant’s CEO Hans Vestberg, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The potential leadership shakeup comes on the heels of a spring reshuffle of Verizon’s C-suite. The carrier reported in March that Matt Ellis, Verizon’s CFO since November 2016, would be leaving the company to “pursue other interests,” on May 1. Taking over in his absence was Verizon Senior Vice President and Controller Tony Skiadas on a temporary basis.

Verizon did not respond to CRN’s request for comment on the report prior to publication.

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Vestberg, Verizon’s chairman and CEO since 2018, started at the company in 2017 when he joined as executive vice president of global networks and CTO. Prior to that, he served as telecom giant Ericsson’s president and CEO for more than six years and the company’s CFO before that for about two years.

Vestberg is actively involved in the CFO search along with members of the Verizon board, with multiple candidates still under consideration, according to the report.

In addition to announcing the departure of its CFO, the company in March also named Sowmyanarayan Sampath as the CEO of Verizon Consumer Group, shifting him from his position of Verizon Business CEO that he held for nine months.

At the same time, Kyle Malady, then executive vice president of global networks and technology, was appointed CEO of Verizon Business Group (VBG).