Chairman and CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS
Hans Vestberg is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Verizon Communications, a leading provider of wireless, fiber-optic and global Internet networks and services. Prior to assuming the role of CEO in August 2018 and the role of Chairman in March 2019, Mr. Vestberg served as Verizon’s Chief Technology Officer and President of Global Networks from 2017, with responsibility for further developing the architecture for Verizon’s fiber-centric networks. At Verizon, he has focused on delivering seamless experiences for customers over network assets consisting of the country’s leading 4G LTE network, the largest 5G test-bed in the U.S., the nation’s biggest residential fiber network, a global internet backbone and undersea cable network carrying much of the world’s internet traffic, and fiber assets in 45 of the top 50 markets in the U.S.
Before joining Verizon in April 2017, Mr. Vestberg served for six years as president and CEO of Ericsson, a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Sweden that provides 35 percent of the world’s 2G, 3G and 4G mobile network infrastructures.
For more than a decade after joining Ericsson in 1991, he gained broad international experience with leadership positions on four continents. He was instrumental in developing Ericsson’s industry-leading services organization, which grew three-fold during his five years of management. In 2007 he became Ericsson’s Chief Financial Officer, and he was named CEO in 2009. As CEO, he led more than 115,000 employees as the company transformed from a focus on hardware to software and services.
Mr. Vestberg was a founding member of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Broadband Commission for Digital Development, where he led climate change and digital health initiatives. He is the former Chairman of the Swedish Olympic Committee and a current member of the Leadership Council of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network, where he helped author the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. He is Vice Chairman of Hexagon and also serves as a Board member at the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative and Childhood US (part of the Queen of Sweden’s World Childhood Foundation). Mr. Vestberg is a leading voice at industry conferences, including Mobile World Congress, Code/Mobile, and the Consumer Electronics Show. In 2014, he was ranked #10 on Global Telecoms Business’ list of the 100 most powerful people in the telecoms industry.