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Randall Stephenson: 10 Things You Didn't Know

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson Speaks In Washington

If you have ever heard of AT&T, chances are you have heard of Randall Stephenson. If you are living under a rock, or somehow, you have never heard of AT&T, it is a multinational telecommunications conglomerate. The headquarters are located in downtown Dallas, Texas, and it is the second largest mobile telephone provider and the largest provider of landline services in the Untied States. AT&T also offers broadband television services through DirectTV. Randall Stephenson is the chairman and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. If you don't know much about Randall or what he does, continue reading.

Randall's Early Life and Education

Randall was born on April 22, 1960, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After he graduated from high school, he didn't go to college very far from home. He attended the University of Central Oklahoma where he earned his Bachelor's Degree. After graduation, he decided to continue his education at the University of Oklahoma. It was there that he earned his Master of Accountancy degree.

Randall's Early Career

When Randall was just 22 years old, he started working at Southwestern Bell Telephone in the information-technology department. He thought that it would be a great first job and since the job was in Oklahoma, he didn't need to move far from home. In the late 1980's, he left Southwestern Bell Telephone to seek out new opportunities. He worked his way up to a series of leadership positions at various companies. One of those was an international assignment, which required him to relocate to Mexico City.

Getting SBC Out of the Red

In July 2001, Randall started working as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for SBC. By the year 2004, Randall managed to reduce the company's net debt from $30 billion to near zero. This was an extremely difficult task that most thought would be impossible. Those who thought that it could be done never imagined that it could be accomplished in just three years.

Cingular Wireless and President Bush

Between 2003 and 2004, Randall made huge strides in his career. He was still working for SBC and in 2004, he was named the Chief Operating Officer (COO). Between 2003 and 2004, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the now defunct, Cingular Wireless. With all of the professional accomplishments that Randall was making, people started taking notice. One of these people was President Bush in 2004. He saw how successful Randall was in his business ventures and he appointed him to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. This was a huge honor and responsibility which Randall took very seriously.

His Future at AT&T

Randall was working as the COO for SBC when they were bought out by AT&T in 2005. He stayed on with the company, and he was responsible for all wireline and wireless operations for the company. He stayed on in that role until 2005, when the CEO of AT&T, Edward Whitacre announced that he would be retiring. Randall was offered the job and he quickly accepted.

Randall's Falsely Reported Death

On July 26, 2009, a story broke on CNN's iReport website. According to the story, Randall went on a massive cocaine binge during a party at his mansion. He ended up overdosing and went into a coma, and he died shortly after. It turned out that the story wasn't true, and it was taken down from the website. The CNN execs believed that the story came from hackers who have never been identified. They believed that a group called 4chan users were responsible for the attack who did it in retaliation for the decision made by AT&T to block the site for all of its broadband customers.

Legal Problems

In April 2015, Randall was named in a lawsuit filed by an assistant at AT&T named Knyome King. King claimed that Randall helped to cover up racist texts that were sent by the then President, Aaron Slator. Eventually, the case was settled out of court.

Randall's Personal Life

When Randall isn't busy running a multi-billion dollar company, he spends time at home with his wife, Lenise. The couple also has two daughters.

The Boy Scouts of America

In 2005, Randall joined the Boy Scout of America Executive Board. In 2008, he went on to becoming a member of the executive committee. In 2016, when the president, Robert Gates stepped down, he became the 36th National President of the Boy Scouts of America. Since he has been part of the organization, he has openly opposed banning Scouts who were openly gay. He wanted to be a part of the organization because he believes that the values that Scouts learn when they are young, including integrity, self-reliance, and self-confidence, stay with them throughout their lives.

During a speech that he made about Scouting, he reminded his audience that many of America's leaders, who have different backgrounds and have come from different walks of life, have had Scouting in their background. As president, he will serve for two consecutive one-year terms. During this time, he says that he plans to make a difference in the lives of Scouts and in the organization itself.

Randall Stephenson Net Worth

The actual net worth of Randall is not known, however, Forbes has listed him as the CEO with the 34th highest compensation. Last year, he earned $1.55 million. He earned an additional $3.79 million in bonuses. He has an income that is listed as “other” of $20.66 million, and the worth of his stocks in AT&T are listed, “not available.” Due to his position at the company and the amount of money that he makes, Randall was named The CEO of the Year in 2016 by Chief Executive Magazine.

Randall is a man who you could consider self-made. He went to college and started out working for a variety of companies where he got the experience that he needed to earn the position at AT&T that he is in today. Not only is he an excellent business man, but he is also an excellent family man and a true leader to The Boy Scouts of America. Overall, Randall is a pretty amazing man.

Garrett Parker

Written by Garrett Parker

Garrett by trade is a personal finance freelance writer and journalist. With over 10 years experience he's covered businesses, CEOs, and investments. However he does like to take on other topics involving some of his personal interests like automobiles, future technologies, and anything else that could change the world.

Read more posts by Garrett Parker

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