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.
Primo Water Corporation is an American-Canadian water company offering multi-gallon bottled water, water dispensers, self-service refill water machines, and water filtration appliances. The company is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and services residential and commercial customers across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel.
Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is one of the seven co-founders of Infosys, and has previously served as the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president, and chief mentor of the company before retiring and taking the title chairman emeritus. As of April 2023, his net worth was estimated to be $4.1 billion, making him the 711th richest person in the world according to Forbes.
Western Wireless Corporation was a cellular network operator that provided mobile telecommunications service to subscribers in 19 western states and seven countries. Western Wireless marketed analog cellular service under the CELLULAR ONE brand in 88 FCC-defined rural service areas and digital PCS service under the VoiceStream brand in 19 FCC-defined metropolitan service areas. At its peak in 2004, Western Wireless provided service to 1.4 million domestic subscribers. Western Wireless obtained additional revenue from the international operations of its Western Wireless International Corporation subsidiary, which was licensed to provide wireless communications services in seven countries to a total of 1.8 million subscribers.
Lazard Ltd is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients. It is the world's largest independent investment bank, with principal executive offices in New York City, Paris and London.
Robert Anthony Lutz is a Swiss-American automotive executive. He served as a top leader of all of the United States Big Three automobile manufacturers, having been in succession executive vice president of Ford Motor Company, president and then vice chairman of Chrysler Corporation, and vice chairman of General Motors.
Alltel was a landline, wireless and general telecommunications services provider, primarily based in the United States. Before its wireless division was acquired by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, Alltel provided cellular service to 34 states and had approximately 13 million subscribers. As a regulatory condition of the acquisition by Verizon, a small portion of Alltel was spun off and continued to operate under the same name in six states, mostly in rural areas. Following the merger, Alltel remained the ninth largest wireless telecommunications company in the United States, with approximately 800,000 customers. On January 22, 2013, AT&T announced they were acquiring what remained of Alltel from Atlantic Tele-Network for $780 million in cash.
Scott T. Ford was president and chief executive officer of Alltel from 2002 to 2009.
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.
Stephens Inc. is a privately held, independent financial services firm headquartered in Little Rock, AR. As one of the largest privately owned investment banks in the United States, Stephens has 28 offices worldwide and employs more than 1,200 people. Warren A. Stephens is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Stephens Inc.
Frank O’Mara is a former Irish runner. A three-time Olympian, he was twice World Indoor Champion in the 3000m. O’Mara has post-graduate degrees from the University of Arkansas and had a successful career in the wireless industry.
The Sam M. Walton College of Business is the business school at the University of Arkansas, a public research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Created in 1926, the college is the second-largest college at the University of Arkansas, with over 5,000 undergraduate students as of Fall 2016. Walton College offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs and is known nationally for its strong programs in retail, finance, information systems, and supply chain management. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Walton College among the top business schools in the country. The college has a close relationship with Walmart Stores, Inc., based in nearby Bentonville, Arkansas, and related vendor community.
Jackson Thomas Stephens Sr was an oilman and investment banker. He was the CEO of Little Rock, Arkansas-based Stephens Inc., a privately owned financial services company.
ATN International, Inc. (ATN), formerly known as Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc., is a publicly traded telecommunications company that is headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts. It operates digital wireless, wireline, and both terrestrial and submarine fiber optic networks, serving markets that are geographically separated and technically challenging, such as the plains, deserts, and mountainous areas of the United States.
Allied Wireless Communications Corporation (AWCC), doing business as Alltel Wireless, was a wireless telecommunications provider serving customers in six states. AWCC customers were transferred to AT&T Mobility in 2015 and the Alltel brand was officially retired in 2016
Southwestern Bell Telephone Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. It does business as other d.b.a. names in its operating region, which includes Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and portions of Illinois. The company is currently headquartered in Dallas, Texas at One AT&T Plaza.
Jeff Fox is an American businessperson who presently serves as the CEO and founder of Circumference Group, overseeing the firm’s management and business strategy.
Charles James Bell was an Irish-born Canadian and American businessman, first cousin of Alexander Graham Bell, son-in-law of Gardiner Greene Hubbard, nephew of Alexander Melville Bell. He was a co-founder of the National Geographic Society.
Daniel T. Pickett III is an American technology entrepreneur, and private equity investor. Pickett is the co-founder, president and CEO of aptihealth, a digital behavioral health company. He is the former CEO of Hudson River Capital Holdings, a private investment company in New York. He was previously president of Zones.
