Verizon's board orchestrated a dramatic leadership overhaul after the telecom giant hemorrhaged 30% market share over eight years, dropping from the industry's top spot to third place. New chairman Mark Bertolini didn't mince words about the company's decline, telling CNBC that former PayPal CEO Dan Schulman now faces the urgent task of reversing years of strategic missteps that cost Verizon its competitive edge.
Verizon's boardroom drama just got real. The telecom giant's new chairman Mark Bertolini dropped a bombshell on CNBC's Squawk Box, admitting the company's leadership transition wasn't just a routine changing of the guard - it was an emergency intervention to stop a devastating market share slide.
"The board needed to act, and we acted," Bertolini told CNBC's Becky Quick, laying bare the urgency behind October's CEO swap that brought in former PayPal chief Dan Schulman to replace Hans Vestberg.
The numbers paint a brutal picture of corporate decline. Verizon has tumbled from the industry's top performer to third place across every key metric - market cap, bond ratings, and market share. "Losing 30% share over the last eight years is an issue, and we have to do something different," Bertolini said, his words carrying the weight of billions in lost value.
What makes this fall particularly stinging is how predictable it was. The 5G revolution that was supposed to cement Verizon's network advantage instead leveled the playing field. "The network isn't as differentiated as it used to be, in large part because everybody's been spending money to put these 5G networks in place," Bertolini explained, essentially admitting that Verizon's massive infrastructure investments failed to create lasting competitive moats.
Schulman, who transformed PayPal into a fintech powerhouse during his tenure, now inherits a company that's lost its mojo. The timing of his appointment wasn't coincidental - he's been sitting on Verizon's board since 2018, watching the slow-motion decline unfold. His October statement about Verizon being at a "critical juncture" suddenly carries more weight when viewed through Bertolini's frank assessment.
The new CEO is already deep in diagnostic mode, according to Bertolini. "Dan is evaluating underlying cost structures and other aspects of the company to ensure its success," the chairman revealed, suggesting the problems run deeper than just market positioning. When a company loses 30% market share over nearly a decade, it's not just about pricing or marketing - it's about fundamental strategic miscalculations.
