Executive Suite: Bell Atlantic Chairman Ray Smith To Leave Company, Announces Future Plans; CEO Ivan Seidenberg Elected Chairman, Effective Dec. 31 - Company Operations

EDGE, On & About AT&T, Nov 2, 1998

Raymond W. Smith, the ranking executive at Bell Atlantic Corp. for nearly a decade, has announced plans to leave the company at the end of the year and become chairman of New York-based Rothschild North America, Inc. Acting on Smith's recommendation, the Bell Atlantic Board of Directors voted late yesterday to elect Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg as chairman, effective Dec.

31. This is the culmination of a succession plan announced in April 1996, when Bell Atlantic and NYNEX first stated their intention to merge. Smith had announced at Bell Atlantic's annual meeting this past May that he would be retiring from the company and that the Board had acted on his recommendation to accelerate Seidenberg's succession as CEO, effective June 1, 1998. "As I close one chapter of my life and begin another, I look ahead with optimism and excitement," Smith said. "I have great affection for the employees of Bell Atlantic, and I admire their many accomplishments over the past decade. I know that with Ivan leading the way the company will continue to be one of the world's great success stories. For myself, I have an exciting, new professional challenge ahead with Rothschild." Said Seidenberg, "Ray Smith's vision made this company what it is today. He was the first CEO of a Baby Bell to realize the explosive business and social potential of the digital age. He saw the power of interactivity before the technology for it even existed, and he saw how it could change lives long before anyone had heard of the World Wide Web." "As a result," Seidenberg added, "we have progressed further and faster than our competitors, and further and faster in the previous decade than we had in the previous century. During Ray's chairmanship, Bell Atlantic has changed in every fundamental way -- from analog to digital, from local to global, from reactive to pro-active. The one sure way for us to continue to succeed in the future is to continue to build on Ray's vision." Since becoming chairman and CEO in 1989, Smith led Bell Atlantic to the forefront of the new communications and information industry, transforming Bell Atlantic from a regional telephone operation into the largest company of its kind in the world. Bell Atlantic completed its merger with NYNEX in August 1997 and this year announced its intention to merge with GTE. Under Smith's leadership, Bell Atlantic became the industry's technological leader in its core business, building the nation's most advanced digital network and providing the highest level of efficiency and reliability. During Smith's tenure, Bell Atlantic has also become one of the world's premier wireless companies, completing more than 30 acquisitions and joint ventures, and the company has expanded globally, making investments and forming partnerships in 23 countries around the world. Smith joined Bell Atlantic in 1984 when the company was divested from AT&T. Prior to that he served in positions of increasing responsibility at AT&T, including director of Budget and Finance, operating vice president and CEO of Bell of Pennsylvania. In 1985 he was appointed vice chairman and chief financial officer of the newly formed Bell Atlantic. In 1988 he became president and chief operating officer. Long a supporter of civil rights and an outspoken activist on cyberhate issues, Smith was the first recipient of the Mickey Leland Award for Diversity in Telecommunications. Earlier this year, he was honored by the NAACP for life-long service to equal opportunity. Seidenberg began his communications career more than 30 years ago. Before the merger with Bell Atlantic, he was chairman and CEO of NYNEX, where he had previously held a variety of leadership positions, including: vice chairman - NYNEX, responsible for the Telecommunications Group; president of NYNEX Worldwide Information and Cellular Service Group; and vice president of Government Affairs in Washington, D.C. Under Seidenberg's leadership, NYNEX achieved a turnaround in earnings performance and service delivery. In the industry, he has long been known as a catalyst for state and federal regulatory reform. Serving on the boards of The New York Hall of Science, The National Urban League and Pace University, Seidenberg has led Bell Atlantic efforts on long-term educational and community initiatives that focus on science, technology and electronic access to information. With 42 million telephone access lines and eight million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest investors in high-growth global communications markets, with operations and investments in 23 countries. FMI: http://www.ba.com.