Seidenberg, Ivan G. 1946–

International Directory of Business Biographies, (2005) by Tim Halpern

Ivan G. Seidenberg 1946–

Chairman and chief executive officer, Verizon

Nationality: American.

Born: December 10, 1946, in New York City, New York.

Education: City University of New York, BA, 1972; Pace University, MBA, 1980.

Family: Son of Howard (owner of an electrical supply shop) and Kitty (Zaretsky) Seidenberg; married Phyllis A. Maisel; children: two.

Career: New York Telephone, 1966, cable splicer's assistant; New York Telephone, 1968–1974, various engineering positions in the field; AT&T, 1974–1976, district manager, transmission design; 1976–1978, district manager, technical planning; 1978–1981, division manager, federal regulatory; 1981–1983, assistant vice president of rates and tariffs; NYNEX, 1983–1994, worked as an engineer, vice president of external affairs, and senior vice president; 1995–1997, president, chief executive, and chairman; Bell Atlantic, 1997–1998, chief operating officer and vice chairman; 1998–2000, chairman of the board and chief executive officer; Verizon, 2000–2002, president and co–chief executive officer; 2002–2003, president and chief executive officer; 2003–, chairman and chief executive officer.

Address: Verizon, 1095 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036; http://www.verizon.com.

■ Ivan G. Seidenberg, who started at the bottom of the telecommunications industry and worked his way to the top, transformed Verizon into a leader in both the traditional phone market and the wireless industry. The company's history can be traced back to the breakup of AT&T in the mid-1980s, when the Baby Bells were born. Originally there were seven Baby Bells, but they ultimately merged into four giants, including Verizon (formed in 2000 when Bell Atlantic merged with GTE), SBC, BellSouth Corporation, and Qwest Communications International. These companies controlled the local phone service market and were even awarded free radio

Ivan G. Seidenberg. AP/Wide World Photos .

wave spectrum licenses to start cellular phone services. But at the end of the 20th century, Verizon and the other Baby Bells watched their monopolies dissipate as they faced competition from the cable industry.

Verizon remained the biggest of all the Baby Bells. In 2004 it led the local market—dominating the Northeast with 35 million local phone customers, more than any other telecom—and was the number two long-distance provider, behind AT&T. Verizon boasted 2003 sales of $68 billion and a market capitalization of nearly $100 billion. Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless, the company's joint venture with Vodafone, was the number one U.S. wireless provider. As for the future, Seiden-berg bet on broadband. Hoping to thwart attacks from cable companies, Seidenberg fought back on broadband, investing heavily on the belief that customers would pay to bring the technology into their households.

STARTING FROM THE GROUND UP

Seidenberg, who grew up in the blue-collar Gun Hill section of the Bronx, New York, worked his way into the upper echelons of the telecom industry. Having failed out of college during his first matriculation, Seidenberg found few doors open to him. He took a job with New York Telephone, climbing into manholes and splicing cable. But the country was at war, and Seidenberg was drafted into the U.S. Army.

WINNERS NEVER QUIT

Wounded at Khe Sahn, Vietnam, Seidenberg returned home a decorated war veteran and resumed work with the telephone company. While working in series of operations roles, Seidenberg was on a quest for self-improvement. Attending night school for 14 consecutive years, he earned an undergraduate degree and an MBA.

HARD WORK PAYS OFF

In 1974 he joined A&T, working in that company's engineering and federal regulatory departments. He rose to assistant vice president of rates and tariffs. In 1982 he was assigned to AT&T's divestiture transition team responsible for developing access charge proposals for its local telephone companies. Following the breakup of AT&T and the subsequent birth of the Baby Bells, Seidenberg joined NYNEX and worked his way up the ladder. At NYNEX he was vice president of external affairs, responsible for integrating all aspects of NYNEX's external activities involving public relations, corporate communications, federal government relations, and corporate advertising. He assumed the president and CEO position in January 1995 and the chairman title in April 1995.

THE DEAL MAKER

Seidenberg was instrumental in reshaping the communications industry. In the period after the AT&T breakup, pieces of the old company were recombined in a flurry of mergers and acquisitions. But no one in the industry shifted the landscape as much as Seidenberg. Beginning in 1997 he led a series of deals, including two of the largest mergers in business history at the time, that would ultimately link five major players under the Verizon brand. In 1997 NYNEX merged with Bell Atlantic in a deal worth $23 billion. Then, in 2002, Bell Atlantic merged with GTE in a $50 billion deal. Ultimately the successor entity was renamed Verizon. Seidenberg spoke about the business climate that drove both mergers: "There are tons of competitors, and we have to keep moving. We're like a car stranded on the Cross Bronx Expressway. Every time we stop for a minute, somebody takes off another hubcap" ( New York Times , April 3, 1995).