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•
(Continued)
-
•
Verizon
Wireless agreed
to pay more
than $9 billion
of the $19
billion raised
for government
coffers and got
the largest
chunks of the
spectrum, which
it is expected
to use for such
high-volume
transmissions
as video and
corporate
data.
•
•
Ivan
G.
Seidenberg,
Chairman of the
Executive
Committee and
Chief Executive
Officer,
Verizon
named as
Television
International
Magazine,
Person of the
Month. --
Education: City
University of
New York, BA,
1972; Pace
University,
MBA,
1980.
•
•
AT&T
Inc., the only
carrier larger
than Verizon,
will pay more
than $6 billion
for new slices
of the
spectrum,
according to
figures
released
Thursday by the
Federal
Communications
Commission. It
won licenses to
use smaller
parts of the
airwaves, but
AT&T noted
that it
recently bought
$2.5 billion
worth of
more-valuable
spectrum in a
private
sale.
•••Family:
Son of Howard
(owner of an
electrical
supply shop)
and Kitty
(Zaretsky)
Seidenberg;
married Phyllis
A. Maisel;
children:
two.
•••Career:
New York
Telephone,
1966, cable
splicer's
assistant; New
York Telephone,
1968 - 1974,
various
engineering
positions in
the field;
AT&T, 1974
- 1976,
district
manager,
transmission
design; 1976 -
1978, district
manager,
technical
planning;
•••
1978 -
1981, division
manager,
federal
regulatory;
1981 --1983,
assistant vice
president of
rates and
tariffs; NYNEX,
1983 - 1994,
worked as an
engineer, vice
president of
external
affairs, and
senior vice
president; 1995
- 1997,
president,
chief
executive, and
chairman;
•••
Bell
Atlantic, 1997
- 1998, chief
operating
officer and
vice chairman;
1998 - 2000,
chairman of the
board and chief
executive
officer;
Verizon, 2000 -
2002, president
and
co&endash;chief
executive
officer; 2002 -
2003, president
and chief
executive
officer; 2003,
chairman and
chief executive
officer.
•••Wikipedia,
reads
that:
Mr.
Seidenberg
serves on the
board of
directors/trustees
of Honeywell,
the Museum of
Television and
Radio, The New
York Hall of
Science, Pace
University,
Verizon
Foundation, and
Wyeth.
•••Mr.
Seidenberg has
a second
residence in
Palm Beach
Gardens,
Florida (Old
Marsh Golf
Club)
•••Address:
Verizon, 1095
Avenue of the
Americas, New
York, New York
10036;
http://www.verizon.com.
02.
TIMELINE
/
Jerry
Yang.
Co-founder, CEO
and Chief
Yahoo!
•
1946
-
Born:
December 10,
1946, in New
York City, New
York.
•
1966
-
New
York Telephone,
1966, Ivan
began his
communications
career as a
cable splicer's
assistant. His
career
encompasses
numerous
operations and
engineering
assignments,
zoomed to
various
leadership
positions at
AT&T and
NYNEX
•
1968
-
1968&endash;1974,
various
engineering
positions in
the field;
•
1972
-
Wounded
at Khe Sahn,
Vietnam,
Seidenberg
returned home a
decorated war
veteran and
resumed work
with the
telephone
company. While
working in
series of
operations
roles,
Seidenberg was
on a quest for
self-improvement.
Attending night
school for 14
consecutive
years, he
earned an
undergraduate
degree and an
MBA.
•
1972
-
Education:
City University
of New York,
BA, 1972; Pace
University,
MBA, 1980.
•••Family:
Son of Howard
(owner of an
electrical
supply shop)
and Kitty
(Zaretsky)
Seidenberg;
married Phyllis
A. Maisel;
children:
two.
•
1972
-
Seidenberg,
who grew up in
the blue-collar
Gun Hill
section of the
Bronx, New
York, worked
his way into
the upper
echelons of the
telecom
industry.
Having failed
out of college
during his
first
matriculation,
Seidenberg
found few doors
open to him. He
took a job with
New York
Telephone,
climbing into
manholes and
splicing cable.
But the country
was at war, and
Seidenberg was
drafted into
the U.S.
Army.
•
1974
- In
1974 he joined
A&T,
working in that
company's
engineering and
federal
regulatory
departments. He
rose to
assistant vice
president of
rates and
tariffs.
•
1974
-
AT&T,
1974&endash;1976,
district
manager,
transmission
design;
1976&endash;1978,
district
manager,
technical
planning;
1978&endash;1981,
division
manager,
federal
regulatory.
•
1981-1983,
assistant vice
president of
rates and
tariffs;
NYNEX,
•
1982
- In
1982 he was
assigned to
AT&T's
divestiture
transition team
responsible for
developing
access charge
proposals for
its local
telephone
companies.
Following the
breakup of
AT&T and
the subsequent
birth of the
Baby Bells,
Seidenberg
joined NYNEX
and worked his
way up the
ladder. At
NYNEX he was
vice president
of external
affairs,
responsible for
integrating all
aspects of
NYNEX's
external
activities
involving
public
relations,
corporate
communications,
federal
government
relations, and
corporate
advertising.
•
1983-1994,
worked as
an engineer,
vice president
of external
affairs, and
senior vice
president;
•
1995-1997,
president,
chief
executive, and
chairman; Bell
Atlantic,
•
1995
- 2003 -
Between
1995 and August
2003 the cable
industry spent
more than $75
billion to
prepare its
networks for
high-definition
television,
high-speed
Internet
access, and
telephone
service.
•
1995
- He
assumed the
president and
CEO position in
January 1995
and the
chairman title
in April
1995.
Seidenberg
was
instrumental in
reshaping the
communications
industry. In
the period
after the
AT&T
breakup, pieces
of the old
company were
recombined in a
flurry of
mergers and
acquisitions.
But no one in
the industry
shifted the
landscape as
much as
Seidenberg.
•
1995
-
Beginning
in 1997 he led
a series of
deals,
including two
of the largest
mergers in
business
history at the
time, that
would
ultimately link
five major
players under
the Verizon
brand. In 1997
NYNEX merged
with Bell
Atlantic in a
deal worth $23
billion.
•
1997
-
Ivan
leads efforts
to form the
NYNEX merger of
Bell Atlantic
and NYNEX in
1997, and the
Bell Atlantic
merger with GTE
in 2000. He
also led
efforts to form
Verizon
Wireless.
•
1997-1998,
chief
operating
officer and
vice
chairman;
•
1998-2000,
Verizon,
chairman of the
board and chief
executive
officer;
Verizon,
•
1999
-
September
1999, Verizon
Wireless
formed, a joint
venture with
Vodafone of
Germany. "THE
FUTURE IS
MOBILE
WIRELESS."
Verizon
began readying
itself for an
onslaught of
competition,
exploiting
growth in newer
businesses,
such as
wireless.
Seidenberg had
a formidable
head start,
having led a
strategy in
September 1999
to form Verizon
Wireless, a
joint venture
with Vodafone
of Germany.
•
2000-2002,
Verzon,
president and
co&endash;chief
executive
officer;
2002&endash;2003,
president and
chief executive
officer; 2003 -
, chairman and
chief executive
officer.
•
2000
-
Ivan
leads efforts
to form the
Bell Atlantic
merger with GTE
in 2000.
•
2000
-
Verizon
was formed in
2000. As chief
executive of
Bell Atlantic,
and previously
of NYNEX, Mr.
Seidenberg was
instrumental in
reshaping the
communications
industry
through two of
the largest
mergers in its
history - the
merger of Bell
Atlantic and
NYNEX in 1997,
and the Bell
Atlantic merger
with GTE in
2000. He also
led efforts to
form Verizon
Wireless.
•
2001
-
(Forbes,
April 16,
2001). The goal
of the newly
created Verizon
was to provide
customers with
one-stop
telecom
shopping, where
they could get
local,
long-distance,
international,
and wireless
calls as well
as high-speed
Internet
access. Said
Seidenberg,
"We're bundle
freaks"
(Forbes, April
16, 2001). The
bundled
approach
offered
considerable
cost savings --
instead of
enlisting cold
callers to sell
long distance,
the company
could pitch
long distance
to existing
customers who
called in with
questions about
their local
service. What
is more, a
customer with
bundled service
was less likely
to switch
providers.
Still, the
strategy had
its detractors.
Said Scott
Kriens, chief
executive of
Juniper
Networks, which
made Internet
protocol
routers, "There
are two
worldviews
competing here.
One is that you
can be all
things to all
people. The
only problem is
that I am
unaware of any
case in history
where that has
worked. The
execution of
that strategy
is harder than
the
declaration"
(Forbes, April
16, 2001).
•
2002
- In
2002, Bell
Atlantic merged
with GTE in a
$50 billion
deal.
Ultimately the
successor
entity was
renamed
Verizon.
Seidenberg
spoke about the
business
climate that
drove both
mergers: "There
are tons of
competitors,
and we have to
keep moving.
We're like a
car stranded on
the Cross Bronx
Expressway.
Every time we
stop for a
minute,
somebody takes
off another
hubcap" (New
York Times,
April 3,
1995).
•
2002
- in
December 2002
Verizon laid
off 2,700
workers in New
York and New
Jersey, about
10 percent of
the company's
frontline
repair and
installation
workforce.
These cuts were
the first major
layoffs in New
York by
Verizon, which
at the time had
46,000
employees in
the state,
including those
in its wireless
division.
Seiden-berg
called the cuts
unavoidable in
a
telecommunications
industry that
had been
crippled by an
economic slump,
saying.
•
2003
-
(New
York Times,
July 31, 2003).
"The union
leadership is
standing at a
crossroads.
They can hold
on to the old
industry, and
accelerate the
flow of jobs
and investment
away from
traditional
telecom
companies to
the newer
companies. Or
they can join
the fight for
our mut
•
2003
-"He's
a master
board-room
player"
(BusinessWeek,
August 4,
2003).
In both
mergers he
orchestrated,
Seidenberg
sacrificed the
top job in the
merged
companies. His
choice helped
the deals
obtain
regulatory
approval and
close more
quickly than
they would have
had there been
a power
struggle. Said
the former FCC
chairman
William E.
Kennard, After
the first
merger, Ray
Smith, the CEO
of Bell
Atlantic, took
over the newly
created
company.
•
2003
-
(BusinessWeek,
August 4,
2003).
Wired-wireless
with fiber.
Unlike other
telecoms that
were bringing
"fiber to the
curb,"
Seidenberg
planned to go
one step
further by
bringing it to
the house. It
was a much
costlier
strategy but
one that
promised
networks with
higher speed.
Seidenberg
relied on a
crucial Verizon
asset to fund
his grand
scheme: its
tremendous cash
flow. By 2003
the company's
operations were
generating
about $22
billion
annually in
cash--50
percent more
than SBC, twice
as much as Bell
South, and
triple
AT&T's
number. In
fact,
Seidenberg
planned to pay
for his fiber
plan without
increasing his
capital budget.
Seidenberg said
that "funding
is not an
issue"
(BusinessWeek,
August 4,
2003). Another
benefit of
"fiber to the
curb" was of a
regulatory
nature. In 2003
the Federal
Communications
Commission
ruled that it
would not force
Baby Bells to
give access to
competitors on
fiber networks
that ran into
the home--the
same might not
hold true for
networks that
stopped at the
curb.CLICK
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