Verizon became the second of the Big Three mobile carriers to change CEOs in the past two weeks when it replaced Hans Vestberg with former PayPal CEO Dan Schulman.

The move follows T-Mobile’s promotion of Srini Gopalan to CEO, replacing Mike Sievert (effective Nov. 1). Verizon also replaced Vestberg as chairman, appointing Oscar Health CEO Mark Bertolini to the role this week. Vestberg will remain with Verizon as a special advisor to help complete its $9.6 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications to improve its fiber internet footprint.

Verizon remains the No. 1 U.S. carrier, but lost more than 300,000 subscribers in the first half of 2025 including many to T-Mobile US and AT&T. Its stock has declined about 18% since Vestberg took over in 2018, including a nearly 30% drop over the last five years.

Dan Schulman

During Schulman’s tenure leading PayPal from 2015 to 2023, it increased revenue from $8 billion to $30 billion, grew EPS five-fold and added hundreds of millions of customers. He was also founding CEO of Virgin Mobile USA and held senior leadership roles at AT&T, Priceline, and American Express. Schulman has been on the Verizon board for seven years and was elected lead independent director last December.

Schulman said he sees an opportunity as CEO to grow market share and improve Verizon’s financial metrics.

“I believe in Verizon and its future, and I am honored to be chosen to serve as CEO,” Schulman said in a statement. “Verizon is at a critical juncture. We have a clear opportunity to redefine our trajectory by growing our market share across all segments of the market while delivering meaningful growth in our key financial metrics. We are going to maximize our value propositions, reduce our cost to serve, and optimize our capital allocation to delight our customers, and deliver sustainable long-term growth for our shareholders.”

He also thanked Vestberg for “remarkable leadership and all he has contributed to Verizon. I deeply appreciate his friendship and support in this transition. I look forward to working with our employees, our regulators, our partners, and the board to do the hard work it takes to regain our leadership in our sector across mobility and broadband.”

Under Vestberg, Verizon was a leader in 5G technology and moved to expand its business by acquiring Frontier, the largest pure-play fiber internet provider in the U.S. He said he is leaving the CEO role “with immense pride and deep gratitude.”

“Over the last eight years, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the most talented and dedicated people in the industry, and together we’ve built a network that truly connects people to what matters most,” Vestberg said in a statement. “As the board and I discussed, with the pending acquisition of Frontier, it is a good time to pass the baton to Dan. I do this with immense pride and deep gratitude. Verizon’s future is in excellent hands, and I’ll be cheering the team on every step of the way.”