Ivan Seidenberg

Last updated
Ivan Seidenberg
Ivan Seidenberg.jpg
Seidenberg (Jim Wallace, 2001)
Born (1946-12-10) December 10, 1946 (age 77)
Alma mater Lehman College
Pace University

Ivan Seidenberg (born December 10, 1946) is the former chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications Inc.

Contents

His telecommunications career began more than 40 years ago when he joined New York Telephone, one of Verizon's predecessor companies, as a cable splicer. He went on to lead Verizon from its inception in 2000, first as co-Chief Executive Officer, then as sole CEO, and then as CEO and chairman. Seidenberg stepped down as CEO in July 2011 and continued to serve as chairman and as a member of the Verizon Board of Directors through December 2011 when he retired from the company, succeeded by Lowell McAdam.

Previously, Seidenberg was chairman and CEO of Verizon's predecessor companies, NYNEX and Bell Atlantic.

Early life

Born into a Jewish family, [1] Seidenberg began his career in telecommunications as a cable splicer, straight from high school. He served in the United States Army and was wounded in the Vietnam War. [2] He subsequently earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Lehman College, part of the City University of New York, and an MBA from Pace University. [3]

Career

Seidenberg started his career as a cable splicer helper at New York Telephone, eventually becoming head of NYNEX in 1994. He took a senior position in Bell Atlantic after that company merged with NYNEX. When Bell Atlantic became Verizon, Seidenberg was sole CEO of the company. [4]

in 1996 Seidenberg became a Trustee of NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital where, as of 2018, he serves as Vice Chair. [5]

In 2006, Seidenberg donated $15 million to Pace University. Pace's School of Computer Science and Information Systems was officially renamed the Ivan G. Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems.

In 2007, President George W. Bush named Seidenberg to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, [6] which advises the president on communications issues related to national security, emergency preparedness and the protection of critical infrastructure.

Seidenberg is a member of the President's Export Council, which advises the President on how to promote U.S. exports, jobs and growth, and the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, which provides counsel on communications issues related to national security. From 2009 to 2011, he chaired the Business Roundtable.

Seidenberg is also a member of the New York Academy of Sciences’ President's Council and serves on the board of trustees of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, The New York Hall of Science, Pace University, the Paley Center for Media, and on the Board of Directors of BlackRock Inc.

In 2012, Seidenberg joined Perella Weinberg Partners as an advisory partner.

In 2015, Seidenberg joined the Board of Directors of Afiniti, a US based unicorn big data business. [7]

Seidenberg continues his involvement in wireless communication technology businesses as a member of Ingenu's board of directors.

As of 2015, Seidenberg is also a part-owner of the New York Mets baseball franchise.

Compensation

While CEO of Verizon in 2009, Seidenberg earned a total compensation of $17,012,407, which included a base salary of $2,100,000, a cash bonus of $2,953,125, stocks granted of $11,079,000, no options granted, and other compensation of $880,282. [8]

Controversy

On October 14, 2008, Ivan Seidenberg stated as reported in the WSJ: "Verizon CEO No Bailout for Me, Thanks," [9] Seidenberg clearly indicated that Verizon was in great shape and would not take any TARP money. Despite subsequent allegations and reports to the contrary, Verizon did not take TARP money. The Federal Reserve Bank bought $1.5 billion of Verizon's short term (90 days) [10] commercial paper. The funds for the purchase of the short term IOUs, from several corporations, did not come from the TARP program. [11]

Personal life

Seidenberg and his wife, Phyllis, have two adult children and reside in the New York City suburbs. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GTE</span> Defunct American telephone company

GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System. The company operated from 1926, with roots tracing further back than that, until 2000, when it was acquired by Bell Atlantic; the combined company took the name Verizon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NYNEX</span> Former American telecommunications company

NYNEX Corporation was an American telephone company that served five states of New England as well as most of the state of New York from January 1, 1984 to August 14, 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Thain</span> American businessman

John Alexander Thain is an American financial executive and investment banker. He was president and co-COO of Goldman Sachs, and then CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. Thain then became the last chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co. before its merger with Bank of America. He was designated to become president of global banking, securities, and wealth management at the newly combined company, but resigned on January 22, 2009. Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, reportedly forced Thain to step down after several controversies, such as the losses at Merrill Lynch which proved to be far larger than previously estimated, and the award of huge executive bonuses. Thain then was chairman and CEO of the CIT Group. He has been a board member of Uber since 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakup of the Bell System</span> 1982 U.S. government action to end AT&T Corps monopoly over telephone services

The monopoly position of the Bell System in the U.S. was ended on January 8, 1982, by a consent decree providing that AT&T Corporation would, as had been initially proposed by AT&T, relinquish control of the Bell Operating Companies, which had provided local telephone service in the United States. AT&T would continue to be a provider of long-distance service, while the now-independent Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), nicknamed the "Baby Bells", would provide local service, and would no longer be directly supplied with equipment from AT&T subsidiary Western Electric.

Verizon New York, Inc., formerly The New York Telephone Company (NYTel), was organized in 1896, taking over the New York City operations of the American Bell Telephone Company.

F. Duane Ackerman is an American businessman. He was the last chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BellSouth Corporation.

Lawrence T. Babbio Jr., generally called Larry, is a former vice chairman and president of Verizon, with responsibility for the Verizon Telecom and Verizon Business units. He was also a member of the board of directors of Verizon Wireless. Since 2007, Babbio has been a senior adviser to Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm. He currently serves as the CEO of Afiniti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verizon New England</span> Bell Operating Company in the Northeast US

Verizon New England, Inc. was a Bell Operating Company that once covered most of New England but most recently only served most of Massachusetts and all of Rhode Island. It was formerly New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, more commonly known as New England Telephone, which for seven decades served most of the New England area of the United States as a part of the original AT&T. New England Telephone's original coverage area included Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont as well as Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Verizon has sold off service in the northern three states, which as of 2020 were served by Consolidated Communications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert M. Allison</span>

Herbert Monroe Allison, Jr. was an American businessman who oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability from 2009 to 2010. His previous positions included president and CEO of Fannie Mae, a post to which he was appointed in September 2008, after Fannie was placed into conservatorship. Prior to that, Allison was chairman, president and chief executive officer of TIAA from 2002 until his retirement in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frontier Communications</span> American telecommunications company

Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. is an American telecommunications company. Known as Citizens Utilities Company until 2000, Citizens Communications Company until 2008, and Frontier Communications Corporation until 2020, as a communications provider with a fiber-optic network and cloud-based services, Frontier offers broadband internet, digital television, and computer technical support to residential and business customers in 25 states. In some areas it also offers home phone services.

Dennis F. Strigl is an American corporate executive. He is the retired president, chief executive officer, and chief operating officer of Verizon Wireless, responsible for operations at Verizon Telecom, Verizon Wireless and Verizon Business. He was appointed on January 1, 2007, and worked for Verizon for about three years until his retirement on December 31, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lowell McAdam</span> American businessman (born 1954)

Lowell Clayton McAdam is an American businessman. He is the former chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications, a company he joined in 2000.

Richard C. Notebaert is the former Chairman and CEO of Qwest, Tellabs and Ameritech. He was credited for saving Qwest from bankruptcy, and making Ameritech the most successful "Baby Bell".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verizon</span> American telecommunications company

Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate based at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Verizon's capital stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Vestberg</span> Swedish business executive

Hans Vestberg is a Swedish businessman and CEO of Verizon Communications, where he has worked as executive vice president of the company's network and technology team, and as chief technology officer. Vestberg was previously the CEO of telecommunications company Ericsson, president of the Swedish Olympic Committee, and chairman of the Swedish Handball Federation.

Jay Steven Fishman served as chairman and chief executive officer of The Travelers Companies for 11 years prior to stepping down in December 2015, following a diagnosis of ALS. He was employed as the executive chairman of the board of Travelers from December 2015 until his death in August 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William C. Ferguson</span>

William C. Ferguson was a telecommunications executive who served as chairman and CEO of NYNEX.

Gibtelecom is the largest telecommunications provider in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Its headquarters is located on John Mackintosh Square.

Raymond "Ray" Paul Dolan is an American mechanical engineer, executive, and former United States Marine Corps pilot notable for his involvement in the development of the CDMA-based digital cellular technology known as IS-95A. Dolan also oversaw the development of the signal processing technology Flash-OFDM. He co-founded Flarion Technologies, which was acquired by Qualcomm, and currently leads Cohere Technologies.

References

  1. Renee, Ghert-Zand. "Wealthy Jewish New Yorkers Are Packing Heat". The Forward . Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  2. SILVERSTEIN, STUART (22 April 1996). "PROFILE / IVAN G. SEIDENBERG : For Nynex Chairman, an Unusual Route to the Top" via LA Times.
  3. Iwata, Edward (2005-02-15). "Verizon's Seidenberg a 'true visionary'". USA Today. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  4. Lewis, Mark (11 March 2002). "Ivan Seidenberg, On Top At Last". Forbes. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  5. "Trustees at NewYork-Presbyterian". www.nyp.org.
  6. 1 2 "Ivan G. Seidenberg". Verizon. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  7. "AI Firm Afiniti Said to Weigh IPO at About $2 Billion Value". Bloomberg.com. 2017-01-24. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  8. 2009 CEO Compensation for Ivan G. Seidenberg Archived 2010-09-03 at the Wayback Machine , Equilar.com
  9. Moore, Heidie. "Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon CEO: No Bailout for Me, Thanks". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  10. "Bob Varettoni on Dec 6, 8:46 PM said". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  11. Torres (7 October 2008). "Fed to Purchase U.S. Commercial Paper to Ease Crunch". Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
Business positions
Preceded by
Company formed by merger between GTE and Bell Atlantic (where he was CEO) (and CEO of NYNEX since 1994 before its merger to become Bell Atlantic)
Verizon CEO
2000–2011
Co-CEO with GTE's Charles Lee 2000-2002
Sole CEO 2002-2011
Succeeded by