Verizon’s CEO Change, Layoffs, and Strategic Restructuring

Verizon Communications Inc.
NYSE: VZ
1095 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
United States
Main Phone: (212) 395-1000
Website: https://www.verizon.com
Industry Sector: Communications, Telecom Services
Full Time Employees: 100,200
Fiscal Year End: December 31
Annual Revenues: $137.49 Billion USD
CEO: Daniel Schulman, CEO & Director
Fortune Rank: #30 in 2025

Verizon is at a turning point as Daniel Schulman, former CEO of PayPal, steps into the top leadership role following Hans Vestberg’s tenure. Faced with declining subscriber growth and mounting competition, Schulman brings a bold restructuring agenda—marked by up to 15,000 layoffs, a renewed focus on customer loyalty, and targeted technology investments. Verizon’s transformation aims to reposition the company for long-term growth and greater sector leadership in an evolving telecom environment.

Who is Verizon’s new CEO Daniel Schulman?

Daniel H. Schulman, appointed Verizon’s CEO effective October 6, 2025, is a seasoned executive with extensive leadership experience in technology and financial services. Prior to joining Verizon, Schulman served as President and CEO of PayPal, where he led the company through significant growth and innovation in digital payments. He also held executive roles at American Express, Sprint Nextel, Virgin Mobile, and Priceline Group. Schulman joined Verizon’s board in 2018 and was named lead independent director in 2024, making him a familiar figure to the company before taking on the CEO role. He holds degrees from Middlebury College and New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Verizon Org Chart

What is Schulman’s background and experience relevant to Verizon?

Schulman is known for driving transformative leadership and operational excellence. His background spans telecommunications (18 years at AT&T and leadership roles at Sprint and Virgin Mobile) and digital payments (PayPal and American Express). Schulman is recognized for growth strategy expertise, including expanding new markets, building revenue streams outside traditional business models, and focusing on underserved populations. His experience with technology-driven customer engagement and scalable digital services is seen as key in steering Verizon through current competitive and operational challenges.

Is Verizon losing market share to T-Mobile and AT&T?

Yes, Verizon is facing increased competition in the U.S. wireless market. As of Q1 2025, Verizon remains the largest mobile service provider by subscriber count, but T-Mobile has shown strong growth momentum, adding significant postpaid subscribers for 11 consecutive quarters. T-Mobile also captures around 58% of the U.S. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) market by aggressively innovating pricing and 5G coverage strategies. AT&T holds about 30% market share. Verizon’s high pricing and slower customer growth compared to T-Mobile highlight competitive pressure that Verizon aims to counter under Schulman’s leadership.

Did Hans Vestberg resign or was he replaced by the board?

Hans Vestberg stepped down as Verizon CEO on October 6, 2025, with the announcement indicating that Verizon’s board appointed Schulman as CEO effective immediately. Vestberg did not resign voluntarily without succession planning or timing but was replaced by the board to lead Verizon into a new phase. Vestberg transitioned into a special advisory role through October 2026 to assist with the integration of Verizon’s $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications and continues to serve on the board until the 2026 annual meeting. This planned transition suggests a strategic leadership change rather than a sudden resignation.

What has been Verizon’s financial and operational performance over the past 8 to 12 quarters?

Verizon’s financial performance in the recent quarters shows mixed but resilient results amid competitive and macroeconomic pressures. Total revenues hovered around $33 billion to $34 billion quarterly, with some fluctuations. Operating income and net income experienced variability partly due to increasing operational expenses and one-time impairments in late 2023. Free cash flow showed improvement recently, with positive cash from operations but some impact from investment outflows. The company faced slowing customer growth and churn due to higher prices and competition. Overall, Verizon maintained solid revenue generation but struggled to achieve significant growth, signaling the need for strategic shifts under the new CEO.

What major investments did Hans Vestberg make in recent years?

Hans Vestberg, who became CEO in 2018, made significant investments primarily focused on expanding Verizon’s 5G network and fiber infrastructure:

• He led Verizon’s 5G network rollout, including acquisition of substantial C-Band spectrum licenses through a $52 billion auction commitment in 2021.
• Verizon expanded its millimeter wave 5G base stations and rolled out fiber-optic network miles extensively, aiming to boost broadband capacity and speeds.
• The $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, expected to close in early 2026, was a cornerstone to Verizon’s broadband expansion plans, particularly fiber optic broadband.

Vestberg emphasized Verizon as having a “big head start” in mobile edge compute and advanced 5G ecosystem building to differentiate from competitors.

What is the scale and rationale of the announced 15,000 layoffs?

Under Daniel Schulman’s new leadership, Verizon announced plans to cut approximately 15,000 jobs, representing about 15% of its workforce of around 100,000 employees. Schulman stated that cost reductions will become a “way of life” at Verizon, signaling a strategic restructuring aimed at improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, and enabling the company to invest more aggressively in growth areas. The layoffs are part of a broader initiative to redefine the company’s trajectory, regain market share, and deliver sustainable financial growth amid stiff competition and evolving market dynamics.

Where are the sales opportunities and where should sales reps focus their efforts?

Given Verizon's 15,000 layoffs and aggressive restructuring under CEO Daniel Schulman, SaaS technology sales reps should focus their value propositions on efficiency, automation, customer experience, and leveraging advanced technologies to drive growth and cost savings. There are meaningful sales opportunities for SaaS solutions that support Verizon's transformation agenda.

Strategic Value Propositions That Resonate

Operational Efficiency & Cost Reduction

Messaging around helping Verizon "do more with less" will be especially powerful, as Schulman stated that cost reductions will become a “way of life” for the company moving forward. Solutions that compress manual effort, streamline workflows, and drive automation—such as AI-powered scripting, process automation, and digital onboarding—directly support Verizon’s goals to become a simpler, leaner, and more agile business.

Customer Experience and Retention
Schulman is prioritizing loyalty and retention, aiming to make Verizon more “scrappier” to win back and protect subscribers lost to T-Mobile and AT&T. Any SaaS platform that enables omnichannel engagement, personalized offers, quicker subscriber support, and frictionless digital experiences can help Verizon stabilize its customer base. Highlighting use cases where your SaaS tools reduce churn, boost Net Promoter Scores (NPS), or drive upsell/cross-sell with real-time data is highly relevant.

Cloud-Native, AI and Data Analytics
Verizon is heavily investing in cloud-native networking, AI, and APIs to optimize operations and enable advanced services like network slicing and edge computing. SaaS products that help orchestrate cloud resources, infuse predictive analytics, or facilitate rapid experimentation in new service launches (especially using generative AI or network automation) are attractive to executive leadership.

Agility and Integration
Verizon’s restructuring requires rapid deployment, interoperability, and vendor flexibility. SaaS messaging should emphasize short time-to-value, scalability, “plug and play” integrations with existing systems, and API-driven architectures that help Verizon transition without disruption.

Where Are the Sales Opportunities?

Automation Platforms
Robotic process automation (RPA), intelligent document processing, and workflow orchestration tools can help Verizon reduce costs and labor, as well as drive efficiency in sales, HR, finance, and operations.

AI and Analytics Solutions
Demand for AI-powered customer intelligence, predictive churn analysis, and real-time network troubleshooting will likely rise. Verizon’s investments in machine learning to personalize experiences and optimize costs present major opportunities for SaaS analytics vendors.

Customer Engagement SaaS
Omnichannel communication platforms, self-service portals, and digital experience management tools are particularly valuable for improving customer support and retention while Verizon reduces its workforce and moves retail stores to franchises.

Cloud and Edge Compute Services
Verizon needs cloud orchestration and edge compute solutions for its evolving 5G, fiber, and AI-driven infrastructure. SaaS offerings that simplify provisioning, monitoring, and scaling these services align to their strategic priorities.

Network and Security SaaS
With emphasis on digital transformation, Verizon continues to seek robust security platforms for IoT, data privacy, identity management, and mobile edge compute deployments. Solutions that improve compliance and resilience while enabling rapid rollout are highly prized.

Strategic Messaging Example

"Reduce operating costs by automating manual processes and empowering agile decision-making with our cloud-native AI platform. Enable Verizon teams to quickly adapt to market changes, improve retention, and deliver superior customer experiences—all while supporting the transformation into a leaner, more competitive operator."

"Our solution helps Verizon strengthen subscriber retention, reduce churn, and unlock deeper customer insights using predictive analytics. Deliver cost-effective, personalized engagement at scale even as you restructure for efficiency and growth."

"Accelerate network innovation and service rollout with seamless integration to Verizon’s evolving cloud-native infrastructure and edge compute ecosystem—driving agility, security, and reliability in your digital transformation journey."

Effective sales engagements should directly address operational pain points, demonstrate how your solution enables Verizon’s transformation, and position ROI within the context of cost reduction, automation, customer-centricity, and competitive differentiation.

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