AT&T CEO’s pay cut by $2 million because of T-Mobile failure
Randall Stephenson, Chairman, CEO and President of AT&T, testifies during a US House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet hearing on the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile on May 26, 2011.
AT&T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson’s 2011 pay was cut by $2 million because the T-Mobile takeover bid he led crashed and burned, CNN reported.
AT&T attempted to buy T-Mobile, the fourth-biggest wireless carrier in the US, for $39 billion last year, CNN reported. When the deal didn’t pass muster with the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice, AT&T withdrew its bid in December. The company was forced to pay T-Mobile the unusually large break-up fee it had negotiated — $4.2 billion in cash and spectrum rights, the Associated Press reported.
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According to the AP:
It's unusual for company boards to cut CEO compensation for specific missteps. But the cost of the failed T-Mobile deal was exceptional.
AT&T's board slashed Stephenson's cash bonus by 25 percent and his stock award by 6 percent, for a total of $2.08 million, the AP reported.
Stephenson can probably handle it. His total 2011 compensation, including stock, was $22 million, Bloomberg News reported.