My first move as pretend AT&T CEO would be pretty simple:
Stop chasing “transformational” nonsense and run the company like a telecom company. Wireless. Fiber. Business services. Network reliability. Customer service. Debt reduction. That’s it.
No media empire. No satellite TV fantasy. No “synergy” PowerPoint garbage. No paying billions for assets and then selling/spinning them off later at a loss.
The basic plan would be:
- Aggressively pay down debt instead of trying to look clever.
- Keep investing in fiber, because that actually fits AT&T’s core strengths.
- Protect the network craft workforce, because contractors and outsourcing can save money short term but can wreck service quality.
- Simplify management layers, because AT&T has always seemed ridiculously top-heavy.
- Stop abusing loyal customers with confusing promotions that reward switchers more than longtime customers.
- Make executive compensation depend on long-term debt reduction, free cash flow, network quality, and employee retention, not just stock-price optics.
And yeah, I’d probably cancel half the consultant contracts in the first week.
But the hostile takeover part might be tough. AT&T’s market cap is massive, and I’m currently a little light on the tens of billions needed to pull that off. Also, I suspect the board would object to my official turnaround slogan: “Stop Doing D-mb Sh*t.”