Verizon’s interim CFO lands permanent seat

Dive Brief:

Verizon Communications veteran Tony Skiadas was promoted from interim to permanent CFO of the company, its CEO said Wednesday.
Skiadas, whose overall career at Verizon spans nearly three decades, previously served as the telecommunications giant’s senior vice president and controller. He was named interim CFO in March, with the appointment becoming effective May 1, as previously reported by CFO Dive. His predecessor, Matt Ellis, departed to pursue other interests.
“Given his rich experience of 27 years at Verizon, Tony knows every aspect of our business, and he’s the right leader at the right time to strengthen our financial position while accelerating our momentum,” Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said in a LinkedIn post.

Dive Insight:

Verizon reported last week that it ended the third quarter with about 10.3 million broadband subscribers, an increase of nearly 21% year over year.

The company’s total operating revenue for the quarter, $33.3 billion, beat analysts’ expectations, triggering its best daily stock performance in 15 years, according to CNBC. As part of its earnings report, the company adjusted its 2023 outlook, projecting free cash flow to reach more than $18 billion, a $1 billion increase compared with previous guidance.

During an earnings call last week, Skiadas said the results show the company’s progress toward achieving priorities such as improving free cash flow and growing wireless service revenue.

“We are executing on our plan and remain on track to meet our financial guidance for 2023,” he said during the call.

In a previous regulatory filing, Verizon said Skiadas’ base salary was set to increase from $625,000 to $800,000 as of May 1. There has been no change to his current compensation at this time, a company spokesperson told CFO Dive.

His appointment to the role of interim CFO earlier this year was among several leadership changes announced at the time.

Among other adjustments, Sowmyanarayan Sampath, who led Verizon Business Group, was named executive vice president and CEO of Verizon Consumer Group. Sampath was replaced by Kyle Malady, who was head of Global Networks and Technology.