In Ed Whitacre learned the telecom industry from the ground up – literally – by first hammering fence posts and measuring telephone wire for Southwestern Bell during his college summer. He joined the company in 1963. By 1990, he was Chairman of the Board and CEO of SBC Communications (SBC) at the dawn of the wireless revolution.
Ed’s bold mergers and acquisitions of regional cellphone operators, often viewed with skepticism at the time, not only grew SBC’s network, but also drove the competitive landscape, bolstered technology adoption and innovation, and led regulators and competitors to think nationally instead of regionally.
As chairman and CEO of AT&T from 1990 until June 2007, Ed led then-SBC on a disciplined growth strategy, and through a series of industry-changing mergers and acquisitions. Under his leadership, SBC made significant domestic and international investments and established several groundbreaking strategic partnerships with companies such as Yahoo! and Echostar, enabling SBC to set the pace for DSL sales as well as enter the video market. SBC joined with BellSouth to create Cingular Wireless, which in 2004 acquired AT&T Wireless. SBC and the new AT&T have been repeatedly named by Fortune magazine as the most admired telecommunications company in America and the world.
Ed’s mission as a transformative leader took new shape when he joined GM as Chairman when the new company launched in July 2009 and held that position until the end of December 2010. Ed also served as CEO from December 2009 through August 2010.
Because of his considerable leadership skills at the Fortune 500 organizations of AT&T and GM, Ed was recognized in 2010 as one of the Top 25 Executives of the Year by BusinessWeek. He has received numerous honors and awards for his business, civic, and philanthropic contributions.
Previously, Ed served as a member of The Business Council, the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, and the boards of the Institute for International Economics, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation and the PGA Tour. In 2008, Texas Tech University announced the new name of their College of Engineering in honor of Ed. His book with Leslie Cauley, American Turnaround – Reinventing AT&T and GM and the Way We Do Business in the USA, was released in February 2013.
Inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame in 2023.