Hans Vestberg

Overview

Hans Vestberg was born in Hudiksvall, Sweden, in 1965 and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Uppsala in Sweden in 1991. He was appointed CEO in August 2018 and Chairman of Verizon's Board of Directors in March 2019. Serving as CEO of Verizon from 2018 to 2025 and Chairman for most of that time, Hans was the architect of Verizon's 5G network strategy. Under his leadership, Verizon was the first in the world to launch 5G and 5G Mobile Edge Compute.

Hans has transformed Verizon's business, leading the company to be first in the world to deploy 5G home and mobile technology including the nationwide launch of 5G Ultra Wideband in 2022. As CEO, he managed an enterprise of immense scale, responsible for a business generating over $130 billion in annual revenue and serving more than 145 million customer connections. He also negotiated a landmark 2021 partnership with Google Cloud, committing to migrate Verizon's technology infrastructure to the cloud while Google invested $1 billion in the company.

Career History

• Chief Technology Officer and President of Global Networks, Verizon (2017–2018)
• President and Chief Executive Officer, Ericsson (2010–2016)
• Chief Financial Officer, Ericsson (2007–2009)
• CFO for Ericsson in North America and comptroller for the Americas (2000–2002)
• CFO for Ericsson in Brazil (1998–2000)

Before joining Verizon in April 2017, Vestberg served for six years as president and CEO of Ericsson, a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Sweden. He became the first CEO of Ericsson without an engineering background when he replaced Carl-Henric Svanberg in January 2010. He led more than 115,000 employees and Ericsson's transformation from its focus on hardware to software and services.

Notable Achievements & Industry Recognition

In 2019, Corporate Responsibility Magazine named him Responsible CEO of the Year for a public company. In 2024, the McCain Institute recognized Vestberg with the In The Arena Award for his character-driven leadership and philanthropic work. Vestberg chairs the World Economic Forum's Edison Alliance, a global telecom ecosystem that in 2021 focused on digital inclusion. In May 2021, Vestberg was elected to the board of directors of BlackRock, where he is on the governance committee.

What Hans Vestberg could bring to advisory roles:

Vestberg's demonstrated expertise spans three decades of global telecommunications leadership, infrastructure transformation, and enterprise-scale innovation management. His strategic vision in architecting and executing Verizon's 5G rollout—including negotiating strategic partnerships with Google Cloud and spearheading massive infrastructure investments—positions him as a valuable advisor to organizations navigating technological disruption. His deep experience managing an enterprise generating over $130 billion in annual revenue and serving nearly 150 million customer connections, combined with his board experience at BlackRock and his founding membership of the ITU Broadband Commission, enables him to counsel global leaders on capital-intensive transformation, network economics, and digital inclusion strategy.