Ivan Seidenberg, chairman and chief executive of Verizon Communications, has always emphasised the importance of scale. Yesterday he made the point again as America’s biggest telecoms company agreed to acquire the rival MCI Communications for $6.75 billion (£3.6 billion).
Born and bred in New York, Mr Seidenberg, 58, started out as a cable splicer at New York Telephone in the 1960s. Since then he has held various posts, including that of chief executive of Nynex, the regional telecoms company. He has been credited with reshaping the industry after the merger of Bell Atlantic and Nynex in 1997, and Bell Atlantic’s consequent acquisition of GTE, an internet network and wireless company.
He became chairman and chief executive of Bell Atlantic in 1998, and helped to create Verizon Wireless, which constituted the wireless assets of Bell Atlantic, GTE and Vodafone Airtouch. He has held his present post since December 2003. Mr Seidenberg, who lives with his wife, Phyllis, in New York, has two adult children. He graduated with a BA in mathematics from City University of New York and has an MBA from Pace University.