Inside Dan Schulman’s war on the old Verizon

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman initially turned down the job several times and came out of retirement on his Montana ranch with what he described as a bad attitude. Schulman, who previously ran PayPal and sat on Verizon's board since 2018, took over as CEO in October 2025 after watching the telecom giant struggle with internal bureaucracy and lose market share for roughly five years. According to Fortune, Schulman said Verizon was a big, lumbering giant that had fallen behind with processes requiring something like 35 signatures to move forward. He noted that the board probably should have acted sooner and that he was the hit-by-the-bus backup scenario. Yahoo Finance reported that Verizon generated $138 billion in revenue last year and that Schulman's contract has been extended through December 2028 to see his three-year turnaround plan through. At his first all-hands meeting, Schulman delivered a blunt assessment without notes or slides, announcing that layoffs were necessary. PhoneArena and Yahoo Finance noted that Verizon cut more than 13,000 roles, representing the largest layoff in the company's history. Schulman explained that he needed to show employees he was very serious about change. PhoneArena reported that Verizon finished last among the Big Three carriers for 20 straight quarters and experienced five years of stagnation while AT&T and T-Mobile closed the network quality gap. Verizon director Roxanne Austin described a five-year stretch where the company's playbook did not change even as customer needs shifted. Under Schulman, Verizon has begun ending the industry habit of luring customers with free phones and promotional offers. Yahoo Finance stated that in the third quarter of 2026, Verizon added a net 406,000 postpaid phone lines, up from 44,000 a year earlier, while promotional costs to acquire customers fell 41 percent and free cash flow rose 12 percent to $7.8 billion. Schulman told Fortune that the company is preparing for Elon Musk's Starlink to become a direct competitor. PhoneArena noted that emerging rivals like SpaceX are building global satellite constellations and laying groundwork for terrestrial networks while Verizon's debt continues to mount and billions are paid out in dividends.