Brown informed the company’s board of directors on December 6 that he would be retiring as Crown Castle’s president, CEO and director of the Company, effective January 16, 2024. Board member Anthony Melone was appointed interim CEO while a search process for a new CEO commences.
Melone has worked in the telecommunications industry for over thirty years, including time as EVP and CTO at Verizon Communications between December 2010 and April 2015. He has also worked for Verizon Wireless for a decade before.
Brown joined Crown Castle since July of 1999, just five years after the towerco was launched and served as CEO for the last seven years.
Since 1994, when its portfolio consisted of 133 cell towers, crown castle has grown into the ninth largest towerco in the world, and the second largest in the US, with over 40,000 sites.
Crown Castle pioneered towercos expanding into adjacent digital infrastructure. In addition to its tower portfolio, the company owns 115,000 small cells and approximately, 85,000km of fibre.
Brown’s retirement means all of the big three US towerco CEO’s will step down in early 2024.
Tom Bartlett, the global CEO of American Tower will be replaced by Steve Vondran in February 2024, following his retirement.
SBA Communications CEO Jeff Stoops will retire at the end of the year. Between them the three companies own over 100,000 cell towers in the US.
“Since joining our company, Jay has helped establish Crown Castle as the nation’s leading provider of shared communications infrastructure, connecting thousands of cities and communities to essential data,” P. Robert Bartolo, chair of the Crown Castle board, said.
Bartolo said Brown was a proven leader, and was deeply familiar with Crown Castle’s business, team and portfolio.
“Tony is the right person to serve as interim CEO while we conduct a search for a permanent successor,” he said.
Brown said it has been a privilege to lead Crown Castle and be a part of its growth and success for over two decades.
“I’m confident the company’s future is bright as its world-class team continues the critical work to connect people, communities and businesses with each other and to the data, technology and wireless services they rely on every day,” Brown said.
