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VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. | 2011 ANNUAL REPORT
IVAN SEIDENBERG’S VISION
networks. He also created the now-iconic Verizon brand that in 10 years’
time has become one of the 20 most powerful brands in the world. In the
process, Verizon grew to a $111 billion technology powerhouse with a
solid foundation in the growth markets of the future.
The mark of Seidenberg’s leadership extends beyond Verizon. In recent
years, he served as the head of the Business Roundtable, advocating for
constructive engagement between the private and public sectors. He
believed passionately in the positive impact Verizon’s technology can
have on the world and saw that delivering real benets for society was
the surest route to creating long-term shareowner value. Above all, he has
been at all times a model of ethical, values-driven leadership.
On Seidenberg’s retirement, longtime Verizon board member Sandra
Moose noted, “I think it’s safe to say, when it comes to having a pro-
found, positive impact on a company — let alone an industry — few
CEOs can match the career of Ivan Seidenberg.” And speaking on behalf
of Verizon employees, CEO Lowell McAdam summed up the legacy of
Ivan Seidenberg’s leadership: “Ivan would tell you that other people are
responsible for building this business, but the truth is, when you look at
Verizon today, you’re looking at Ivan’s vision. He’s the architect. And we all
have him to thank for the superb business we are now entrusted to run.”
In 1966, a 19-year old named Ivan Seidenberg joined New York Telephone
as a cable splicer’s assistant. By 1995, he had worked his way up the lad-
der to become the chief executive ocer of NYNEX, one of the original
regional Bell companies created by the break-up of AT&T. In 2011, he
retired as chairman and chief executive ocer of Verizon.
The communications business of 1995 looked very dierent from the
industry we know today. The Internet, so ubiquitous now we take it for
granted, barely existed. Cell phones were an expensive luxury. NYNEX
was a $13 billion company — almost all of it from analog voice service —
coping with aging technology, a edgling wireless business, a mountain
of regulation and an uncertain future.
With this as a starting point, Seidenberg began to transform the company
around the growth trends that would reshape the industry in the decades
to come. Under his leadership, the company built an industry-leading
wireless franchise, growing its subscriber base from fewer than 5 million
in 1995 to almost 108 million connections by 2011. Through mergers and
acquisitions involving Bell Atlantic, GTE, MCI, Alltel and others, he made
us a national company with a growing global presence. Recognizing
that superior network technology was the heart of the company’s value
proposition, he invested in ber, wireless broadband and global Internet
7