John Stephens to retire from AT&T in 2021
Appointments

John Stephens to retire from AT&T in 2021

John Stephens - AT&T.jpg

AT&T’s chief financial officer (CFO) John Stephens will retire from his role in March 2021, after 28 years with the company.

Pascal Desroches, CFO at WarnerMedia has been named as Stephens successor, effective 1 April 2021. During the transition period, Desroches will serve as AT&T’s senior executive vice president – finance.

Stephens (pictured) was appointed CFO in 2011 and helped lead AT&T during a period of major investment in its capabilities to futureproof the company for the years ahead.

“I greatly appreciate John’s outstanding leadership, tireless dedication and many significant contributions to AT&T over the years,” said John Stankey, CEO at AT&T.

“His financial expertise and strong commitment to our investors, employees and customers have been invaluable as we invested to become a leader in connectivity and content. He has helped us maintain the financial strength and flexibility needed to create long-term value for shareowners. While he won’t be retiring until next spring, I want to take this opportunity to wish John and his family all our best in the years ahead.”

As for Desroches, prior to serving as CFO at WarnerMedia, he was CFO at Turner and global controller at Time Warner Inc. Before he joined Time Warner, Desroches was a partner at KPMG and served as a senior advisor to the chief accountant of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Pascal is an impressive financial executive whose strategic thinking and leadership I’ve seen first-hand at WarnerMedia. His deep and broad experience spans media and telecom, as well as corporate finance, public accounting and regulatory compliance,” Stankey said.

“I look forward to working closely with him again as we execute on our plans across AT&T to invest in our growth platforms, operate effectively and efficiently, and deliver value to our investors and customers.”

In related news, earlier this month Elliot Management, the US-activist investor that took a US$3.2 billion stake in AT&T, liquidated its investment in the company.

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