Enlarge / T-Mobile CEO John Legere during an interview on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, April 30, 2018.

Getty images Bloomberg

T-Mobile CEO John Legere will leave the company’s top track after his contract ends on April 30, 2020, T-Mobile announced today. Mike Sievert, president and chief operating officer of T-Mobile, will replace Legere as CEO on May 1.

Legere, who became CEO in September 2012, brought a new life to a emerging company and led the “Un-carrier” strategy that T-Mobile put forward as a customer-friendly alternative to the AT&T / Verizon duopoly. The Un-carrier movements of T-Mobile changed some of the punitive business practices that mobile providers routinely offered to customers.

But T-Mobile from Legere also helped to take the lead in limiting streaming video a standard practice in the industry. T-Mobile was punished by the federal government in 2016 for not sufficiently disclosing speed and data restrictions for its “unlimited data” plans, and like other carriers, it sold its customers’ real-time location data to third parties. Legere often offered better deals than competitors, but wireless prices in the US are still among the most expensive in the world.

Legere used a brash and combative style to promote T-Mobile, with often bigger rivals AT&T and Verizon being insulted by calling them “stupid and stupid.” In 2017, he said that T-Mobile scientific research showed that Verizon was the “Dumber” part of that pair. Legere will leave if T-Mobile tries to complete the ongoing acquisition of Sprint, a deal that would reduce wireless competition in the US and make T-Mobile about the size of AT&T and Verizon.

Legere helped T-Mobile and Sprint to obtain approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice for the merger, but the companies still have to file a lawsuit filed by a coalition of public advocates-general to secure the merger complete.

Legere was talking to WeWork to take over the CEO position at that company, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. But Legere disputed that news today and reportedly said, “I never had discussions to run WeWork.”

Legere led “complete transformation”

T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom gave Legere a lot of praise today.

“John Legere has had a hugely successful run as CEO. As the architect of the Un-carrier strategy and the complete transformation of the company, John has put T-Mobile US in an incredibly strong position,” said Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom in the leadership change notice. Great / T-Mobile executive Mike Sievert.

T-Mobile

The transition from Legere to Sievert is the result of a “multi-year planning process for follow-up led by John Legere and the Board of Directors,” T-Mobile said. Legere remains a member of the board of directors after leaving the CEO position.

Sievert joined T-Mobile in 2012 as chief marketing officer, was promoted to chief operating officer in 2015 and added president to his list of titles in 2018. Legere was previously both president and CEO.

“I hired Mike in 2012 and I have a lot of faith in him,” Legere said today. “Mike is well prepared to lead T-Mobile into the future. He has a deep understanding of where T-Mobile has been and where it needs to go to remain the most innovative company in the industry.”

Sievert said his “mission is to build on T-Mobile’s leading reputation for . delivering an excellent customer experience” and to make T-Mobile “the leading mobile provider” and “one of the most admired companies ” in America.”

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply